A Job of a Pilot
by Bug-chan
Summary: NGE/SDF Macross x-over...r/r plz Chap 11 finally up!!!
1. Chapter 1

The job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A.D. 2009, ten years after the crash of the Macross on South Ataria Island  
  
After spending ten years sitting in the middle of South Ataria Island, being fixed, analyzed and prepped, the day finally came when the now-known Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, or Macross for short, was set to take off.  
  
Ikari Shinji woke up just like how he did on any normal day...with a certain redhead entering his house with a sweet expression that morphed into a predatory look once she opened the door to his room. Shoryu Askua Langley tip-toed over to the sleeping Japanese boy, paused for a second, bent her head down, and took a deep breath.  
  
"WAKE UP!!!!!!!"  
  
This bolted Shinji off the bed and straight onto the floor, blankets, pillows and all. He groggily looked up to see through his crust-filled eyes a red blob, which changed to something more like a peach-colored blob with red around it, which finally changed to a rather beautiful redhead, with those sparkling blue eyes and her Asian features blending together to form a near-perfect German-Japanese fourteen-year-old girl. All which happened in five seconds, during which Asuka looked at her handiwork, trying in vain to stifle her giggling from seeing the desired effect and looking down at the equal-aged Japanese boy. She took this short time to look over his features, consisting of dark-blue eyes that could be mistaken for brown with an almost baby-like face yet to mature to a more manly-looking one, not to mention an innocent look that always somehow stuck to him. Something then snapped within her.  
  
"Ikari Shinji!! Get up now and make yourself look more presentable!!!" she shouted, now fully waking him up. Shinji, finally with all his senses online, scampered out of his room towards the shower, during which Asuka couldn't help but look at his prosterior. 'Cute,' she thought, while blushing slightly.   
  
Fifteen minutes later, after Shinji dressed up and grabbed some breakfast, both kids headed down the road to the munincipal junior high school they've attended for the past two years, all giddy. A week earlier, their history teacher arranged a field trip that day to the launch of the Macross, citing potential historical significance. The couple made it to school and met up with the rest of their classmates, waiting for the teacher and their ride towards the Macross launching grounds.  
  
"Oi Shinji!" shouted Suzuhara Touji, waving his hand. Shinji saw it and headed towards the muscular and tanned jock. Next to him was another one of Shinji's and Touji's good friend, Aida Kensuke, a bespectacled and slim boy and a diehard military fan.   
  
"I can't believe it!!! The Macross is launching!! The Super Dimensional Fortress Macross is launching!!!" Kensuke said, jumping up and down like a little kid.  
  
"Can it, you've already said that more than ten times within the last fifteen minutes," Touji retorted.  
  
"Come on! It's the Macross! It's 1.2 kilometers long for crying out loud! For all I know, it can hold an entire city inside of it!!!" he exclaimed, then proceeded to tell all other dimensions, which Touji and Shinji promply tuned out.  
  
While Shinji went over to those two boys, Asuka spotted and headed towards Horaki Hikari, Class Representative. Hikari, a brown-haird and freckled girl, was Asuka's best friend and those two were rather inseperable.   
  
"So what do you think about today?" asked Hikari.  
  
"Boring...at least we aren't in school," Asuka replied. She then saw Hikari look towards a certain direction, which happened to be the trio Asuka dubbed "the Three Stooges", with a faraway look of sorts. "Earth to Hikari, come in," she called, waving her hand in front of the frecked girl's face.  
  
"Yes Asuka?" she asked, broken out of her reverie.  
  
"Who was it? Which stooge was it?" Asuka asked, almost with a predatory look. Hikari shrunk a bit under it with a blush, not being able to answer. Finally, she whispered, "Suzuhara."  
  
"Suzuhara? What do you see in that jock? All I see is nothing but jock material, which happens to be idiocity and perversion!" she exclaimed. Hikari immediately shushed her, with her blush intensifying.  
  
"He's not as bad as you think Asuka!" she replied quietly, so no one else could hear.  
  
Asuka just shrugged. "Whatever." Hikari then thought of a clever way of getting back at her.  
  
"When are you going to make your moves on Shinji?" she asked, somewhat slyly. This got Asuka blushing as well, not to mention her remembering the short moment earlier when she stared at his bottom.   
  
"What are you talking about? Have you gone nuts or something??" Asuka asked. The brown-haired girl just giggled, happy at her friend's reaction. Then their rides came along with their history teacher. The class divided into groups and got in the vans, which promptly took them to the Macross. There it was, extremely long, wide and it looked like it could split in two or something.  
  
The vans reached the grounds and everyone got off. Anyone at that moment could see Kensuke's new eyes, approaching the size of CDs and growing. He immediately took out his camcorder, which happened to be anywhere and everywhere he was at and started filming, while drooling like mad. Touji and Shinji slowly moved away from Kensuke, not wanting to be associated with a boy drooling at machinery. "Sugoi, sugoi, sugoi, sugoi, sugoi!!!" he exclaimed, making sure he had every inch of the Macross recorded. The group soon made its way to a platform where the Mayor of the city was making a short speech, who then proceeded to introduce the "ace" of the previous Unification War, Roy Fokker. The tall, lanky man walked up to the platform. Asuka's eyes were immediately glued onto him and him alone and she tuned out everything outside of her. All she could see was that man being her boyfriend right there and then. 'That's my boyfriend! I want HIM!!! Not some boy like Shinji! I want a MAN, not a BOY!!' she thought to herself. Soon the speech ended and a brief airshow began. "Ladies and gentlemen, please look to your right, the newest, most powerful Valkyrie fighters, currently lead by Ichijo Hikaru!" he said, and pointed towards the rapidly approaching fighter squad. They zoomed by and proceeded to go up vertically for a minute, after which each jet went a different way to form a flower-like shape with their exhaust, much to the joy of all the spectators...and the delight of one Kensuke, with his video camera.  
  
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy yourself and look around for the next hour when the Macross shall officialy launch," said the Mayor after taking the mic from Roy. The class split up and went different directions, with Kensuke practically bolting towards the nearest fighter jet with his camera, fully intent on getting its details. If one didn't know him better, one would've thought that Kensuke was a spy intent on getting the design of the Valkyries. Soon, Shinji and Touji drifted away from each other, getting interested in other things, with Asuka and Hikari doing likewise.   
  
MEANWHILE, NEAR EARTH ORBIT IN SPACE  
  
Numerous bright lights showed up, followed by weird, green spaceships a few seconds later. Inside one of those ships...  
  
"Is this the planetary system that emitted the de-fold signature?" asked Lord Britai, the commander of the current fleet known as the Zentradi. He was a tall figure, emitting a sense of authority, with a metallic mask of sorts covering part of his face.   
  
"That is correct, sir," Answered Chief Archivist Exedore. Exedore was Britai's personal advisor and source of knowledge, hence the title Chief Archivist. Even though his figure did not match near anything of a regular Zentradi, his knowledge more than made up for it.  
  
"Hmm..." the general thought for a minute. "Send down a recon team to investigate," he ordered. It was relayed to all ships and one soon made its way slowly down to the unsuspecting Earth, and to where the Macross was located.  
  
BACK IN SOUTH ATARIA ISLAND  
  
Asuka and Shinji somehow met up in front of one of Valkyries on display. Shinji bent down and looked over the ship, both outside and inside. "It's funny," he said. "It's really funny,"  
  
"What is?" Askua inquired.  
  
"This plane. It looks almost exactly like the plane in this one game I'm playing now," he replied. "Even the controls."  
  
"Oh," Asuka just replied. She followed Shinji and looked into the cockpit as well. Suddenly, a loud mechanical sound came from the Macross, to which everyone looked up. The Macross looked like it was transforming. Down the middle, the ship was splitting into two halves, which shifted over to make what looked like makeshift arms. Once it was done, everyone saw a red light spark between the two "arms", followed by a gigantic beam that came out of it towards the sky along with an extremely loud noise. Shinji and Asuka panicked and hopped into the Valkyrie they were looking at and ducked with their hands over their head.   
  
INSIDE THE MACROSS BRIDGE  
  
"What the hell just happened out there?!" asked an incredulous 2nd Lieutenant Katsuragi Misato, who just happened to come in as the beam fired. The bridge crew saw the purple-haired woman come in, apparently very surprised.  
  
"The main beam just fired!" replied Claudia Grant, a woman with curly black hair and a serious attitude. A few seconds passed. "We have control of the ship once again!" she announced. Then Admiral Gloval came into the deck, banging his head and muttering obscenities. "What is our situation?" he asked.  
  
"The main cannon has been fired against our will. The system jammed up by itself," reported Hayase Lisa. The long, brown-haired daughter of a high-ranking commander in the Earth Defense Council, she always had an air of dedication and seriousness around her, especially during times like these. Soon, another voice is heard.  
  
"We're picking up unidentified objects coming in past the atmosphere!" announced Shammy, somewhat panicked.   
  
"Admiral! Permission to scramble all Valkyries," asked Misato.  
  
Gloval gave it some thought, then he nodded. "Permission granted."  
  
"Hayase, scramble all Valkyries stat!" ordered Misato, which Misa carried out immediately. Outside the Macross, people looked up as it let out a siren.  
  
"We are currently engaged in hostilities with aliens. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!" Everyone then panicked and started running as far away from the Macross as possible, while Shinji and Asuka remained in the cockpit of the Valkyrie they hopped into, not aware of what was just announced. Soon, Valkyries from the space fortress came out and started taking off one by one. Roy then headed for his Valkyrie and strapped himself in.  
  
"Another war eh? It's been two years," he mumbled to himself, then proceeded to taxi onto the runway. "Skull leader to base, asking permission to launch," he requested.  
  
"Permission granted, Skull Leader," Misa said over the radio. Roy took off, headed towards the skies to join the fray of missiles, lasers and explosions.  
  
"What the..." mumbled Misa as she looked at her screen. "What the hell is he doing there?" she asked herself, then pressed a few buttons. "VT-102! VT-102 on the ground!" This made Shinji lift his head towards the voice. "VT-102! VT-102 on the ground! Why haven't you taken off?" Shinji was dumbfounded, wondering why he was called VT-102. He then looked to the side of the plane and saw, in clear letters and numbers, VT-102, and silently panicked. 'This wasn't a display! It was an actual jet!' Worse still, a fueling truck came and fitted the jet with a machine gun and started fueling it. "VT-102!! TAKE OFF AT ONCE!!!" Misa shouted. This got Shinji's attention and made him wince. The crew was done fueling and prepping and gave him hand signals to proceed to takeoff. 'Oh brother...what have I gotten myself into?' he wondered, and as if he knew what he was doing, started to slowly taxi the plane. The vibration got Asuka to lift her head. 'It's just like the game, it's just like the game,' he repeated over and over.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked, then saw Shinji's hands on the controls. She got hysteric. "BAKA! What are you doing??!" she shouted.   
  
"I'm going to fly this plane," he simply replied. "Orders."  
  
"What the--" Asuka got out before the afterburner blasted and forced herself onto the chair behind, knocking the wind out of her. To her surprise and relief, the jet took off perfectly without a hitch of sorts. The relief died when she saw where they were going. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND???" she screamed at him. He cringed slightly, then shouted as a missle exploded near him, causing him to lose control momentarily. He regained it and started to pull off some dodges that even Roy would be envious of. Of course, the only feeling Asuka was feeling was something more like anger, fear and nausea all put together. A display then came on.  
  
"Who's there? Identify yourself!" Roy's face came on. He didn't know about the other fighter in his Skull squadron and was very surprised to see two fourteen-year-old faces looking back at him. "How did you get into this plane?" he demanded.   
  
Shinji started, "Umm, well--" before he got shot at and started nosediving. This knocked Asuka unconscious and put Shinji in overdrive panic mode.   
  
"VT-102! You are in a collision course with the Macross! Change your direction at once!" Misa shouted.  
  
"I can't! The controls must've all stalled! I'm stuck!" he shouted back.  
  
"Go into B formation!" she ordered. Shinji looked back dumbfounded. "You don't know B formation??" she asked incredulously. "Hit the B lever next to the screen," she said, overlooking the fact that the people inside were kids and not pilots. Shinji looked and saw a lever with B, G and F and hit the B lever. At once, the Valkyrie he was in transformed to a robot, which he could control with more ease than the fighter jet. He tried to slow down, which he did, but not slow enough that he started to run into building after building after building, before stopping some twenty feet away from a Chinese restaurant. Shinji then reoriented himself and looked around. 'Phew, that was too close,' he thought to himself. He then got up and looked at the situation.  
  
It was not making his day at all.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - This is my first crossover fic, and please REVIEW!!! That's all I ask of you readers, read and review! I'm going to put this in both macross and eva categories and remove it from one of them as the chapters move on. till then, ja! 


	2. Chapter 2

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
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A/N - A personal note of thanks to SRW@ fan -- THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEW!!!! forgive me for the line of mistakes i've made, after all, I did pull this off at 2 in the morning trying to warm my hands and fingers. And to refresh your memory, most of the Macross detail comes off of episode 1, things like VT-102. And about Misato, i had to somehow intergrate her into the bridge staff to give it an xover feel of sorts, sorry if that bugged you, and about Kaji, he doesn't exist...for now. If you watch episode 1 and sorta re-read my first chapter, you'll see what i'm blabbering about. BTW, about Kensuke, trust me on this one, he'll make his flasy debut. ANYWAYS...please keep reviewing and telling me things like these!!! after all, this is my second project.  
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At once, the Valkyrie he was in transformed to a robot, which he could control with more ease than the fighter jet. He tried to slow down, which he did, but not slow enough that he started to run into building after building after building, before stopping some twenty feet away from a Chinese restaurant. Shinji then reoriented himself and looked around. 'Phew, that was too close,' he thought to himself. He then got up and looked at the situation.  
  
It was not making his day at all.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
He started looking around and surveying the amount of damage and his current surroundings. Behind him, he saw a trail of what used to be houses and buildings. On both his left and right sides were intact buildings while right in front of him was a rather unique-looking Chinese restaurant, with red edges around its windows.   
  
Outside, above the restaurant, a window opened and two heads popped out to see where the big noise came from: a short blue-haired pale-skinned girl with red, ruby-like eyes along with a little boy with brown hair and big brown eyes.   
  
"Wow!!! It's a robot! It's huge!!" the boy exclaimed, trying to run towards it. He took one step and was restrained by the older girl, who just shook her head. Then both heard a mechanical sound and turned their heads towards the robot, whose head apparently came down to its chest. "It's moving!" he exclaimed again. Seconds later, a chair came up, showing a still-unconscious Asuka sitting there. 'That is strange, how can she operate that while she is unconscious?' the girl wondered to herself. Then the chair went up again, and showed a conscious Shinji, who cautiously stood up, looked around and saw the girl and the boy looking back at him. 'What in the world is going on here?' he asked to himself, confused. "Umm...excuse me! What does this look like to you?" he questioned the two people in the building.  
  
"A huge huge robot!" the younger boy shouted back.  
  
"Just as I thought...the plane turned into a robot," he said, mostly to himself. The two occupanets heard what he said and were shocked, the pale girl masking it very well under a face of indifference.  
  
"Eh???? How come???" asked the boy, unknowingly vocalizing her thoughts.  
  
"That's what I want to know," he answered, still confused and trying to put the pieces together.   
  
"Then why, as the pilot, do you not know anything about this?" the girl asked quietly.   
  
"Just because I'm a pilot doesn't mean I'm a soldier you know?" Shinji retorted back. He then heard a very loud honk coming from below, which was from a big truck.   
  
"Yo! Can you get this out of the way? I got some important deliveries for the shelter!" the driver shouted.  
  
"Yeah, will do!" Shinji shouted back and got back into the cockpit. 'OK, let's try this again,' he thought, then took hold of the controls once again. He slowly started manuvering...only to find out that he was falling backwards! 'Holy!!!' he could blurt out before his feet stepped on a pair of pedals on the ground. This caused the robot to spew out some thrust, keeping him from falling backwards, but then again sending him straight for the Chinese restaurant...and the two people inside it! 'HOLY!!!' he thought before he crashed into it and just shut his eyes, not wanting to see what he caused. If the circumstances were different, it would have seemed that the robot was peeking into a house. He slowly opened one eye, then the other, and saw the two people, apparently uninjured and probably unconscious. Then both people started to move, which made Shinji sigh with relief. He then found a switch for speech and flipped it.  
  
"Are you two ok?" he asked. Both looked at themselves for any injuries, which they found none, looked back and nodded. 'Thank goodness,' he mumbled, only then to realize that he didn't know how to exactly back off without further destroying any more buildings.  
  
Apparently Shinji wasn't the only one having problems. Back on the bridge on the Macross, Misato received word that the Macross was to take off and started barking out orders to prepare for takeoff, with the rest of the bridge going at it in front of their consoles like there was no tomorrow. Soon, preparations were done and everyone was waiting for Gloval's orders to take off.   
  
"Launch the Macross!" he bellowed.   
  
"Launching the Macross," Misa repeated. It slowly started making its way up. 'So far so good' was in everyone's minds. Then it got cut off with a sudden jolt that threw everyone down, especially Misato.   
  
"Status report!" she demanded. Misa got back in front of her consoles and wouldn't believe what she was seeing.   
  
"Lieutenant!" she shouted. "The bow!" Misato ran next to her, with Gloval right behind her, and both saw what she refused to believe she saw: the Gravity Control Systems, the main force behind pulling the Macross into space, were taking off on its own! "The ship's going back down to Earth!" she exclaimed.   
  
'Bloody hell, so much for recycled parts,' Misato thought to herself grimly. They then felt another jolt as the Macross unceremoniously landed on Earth again.   
  
"I guess this is what we get for using recycled parts," Misa mumbled. Gloval only nodded in agreement.  
  
Meanwhile, back at the Chinese restaurant, two trucks sent hooks around the arms of the robot and pulled it back to an upright position, relieving Shinji inside, then pulling him back down, back first.   
"Don't give up, Mr. Pilot!" he shouted and waved. Rei just looked at him. Shinji weakly nodded and waved back. Then, another Valkyrie like his came down near him, but this one had a different paint job. On its tails, there was a picture of a skull and crossbones, like that from pirates in stories he read and the Valkyrie seemed much bigger than his. It as well transformed into a robot like his. A familiar face then appeared next to his controls. "Pilot of VT-102! Are you there? Respond!" he said.  
  
"Would that be me?" he asked, somewhat timidly.  
  
"Ah! You're a stubborn kind! How does it feel like to get shot down?" Roy asked.  
  
"Not good obviously," Shinji answered, somewhat annoyed. "Can you help me get out of this mess?"  
  
"Yeah, give me a few minutes and it'll be fine," he said, then approached the fallen robot. A few arms popped out of his hand and started tweaking with the interiors of the robot.   
  
"What's the deal with this transforming into a robot?" Shinji then asked as the repairs took place.  
  
"I can't explain that to you right now. Secret," Roy replied. He then saw a red bunch and a girl's face, unconscious, behind Shinji's seat. "Who's that behind you? Your girlfriend?" he asked.  
  
"No! No! It's not like that!!" Shinji immediately replied, flushing. Roy got a laugh out of his reaction. The repairing was soon done and the miniature arms withdrew into the hands.   
  
"OK, now step on those pedals firmly," Roy instructed. Shinji did as told so and slowly got back onto two feet.   
  
"See, you shouldn't give up!" Tohru shouted again, smiling widely. Rei then gave a slight hint of a smile. Now on two feet, Shinji spotted a couple running towards Rei and Tohru.  
  
"Rei! Tohru! Let's go to the shelter now!" a woman called out. Both kids started to go after the couple as Shinji watched Rei with intent. 'Why doesn't she say and do much?' he wondered. His reverie was cut when Roy spoke.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't be unfaithful to your girlfriend like that," Roy teased.   
  
"It's not what you think Fokker-san!!" Shinji retorted, once again blushing.  
  
"Anyways, what's your name? We can't just have one person know a name," Roy asked.  
  
"Shinji. Ikari Shinji," he answered.   
  
"Shinji eh?" Roy said before a massive barrage of lasers from space struck the island.   
  
"What was that???" Shinji asked, panic obvious in his voice.  
  
"Most likely an enemy attack," Roy mumbled.  
  
"I'm...worried...about Rei," Shinji softly said. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Roy picked that up.  
  
"Now, now, young Ikari, what did I say about being unfaithful?" Roy humorously asked. Shinji's blush, which was slowly going away during the time, struck back at full force.  
  
"It's not like that!!!" he shouted.   
  
"Just kidding. Let's go look for her then," Roy said and was about to take off.  
  
"Wait! I don't know how to pilot a robot!!" Shinji shouted. Roy then stopped and thought for a second.  
  
"Hit the lever that says "G" near you," Roy ordered. Shinji did as told and gave a quick yelp as he transformed, yet again. Seconds later, he was in what was called "Gerwalk" mode. The Valkyrie now looked more like a plane, with the difference being that there were arms and legs sticking out. "The controls are almost identical with that of a jet's so you should have no trouble at all with controlling it. Speaking of control, where did someone young like you learn to fly a jet?"  
  
"Umm...flight sim games?" Shinji said timidly.  
  
"Oh..." Roy trailed. "Let's go, we can't afford to see your other girlfriend get killed now can we?"  
  
Shinji blushed...again, but remained silent. The two Valkyries took off, zooming down the mostly destroyed city, looking for any signs of Rei. The duo saw a figure running down the road, apparently with blue hair. Roy sped up, covered her and shot down the enemy, which looked like a gigantic egg with legs.   
  
"Ikari! Take her and get away from here! I'll cover you!" Roy ordered as he transformed back into a robot and shot down more of the enemy.  
  
"But how--" Shinji asked.  
  
"Just do it somehow!" Roy shouted back. Shinji then bent the Valkyrie and Rei jumped in on top of his lap. Shinji couldn't help but blush a bit. He then got over it and took off. He just zoomed down road after road, not really knowing where to go. During this time, Asuka finally regained consciousness. "Wha...where...how?" she started, before noticing blue hair and a feminine face in front of her, next to Shinji. "HENTAI! What are you doing with this girl??! And what position!!!" Asuka screamed. Shinji cringed for a moment, which was cut off by an attack from another egg-shaped enemy. This blew off one of the arms, which jolted the cockpit severely. Shinji fortunately didn't move too much and still had control, but the two girls didn't fare as well. Asuka slammed her head onto one of the controls, breaking it in the process but Rei's situation shocked him the most. She got a cut that went from behind her ear down to almost her jaw. Seeing this, Shinji freaked out and got a deer-in-the-headlights look. The enemy then fired another shot which missed but not by much. This jolted the cockpit again, this time knocking Asuka into the front seat with a loud "thud" and knocking her unconscious again. Shinji looked back at her and saw an Asuka with a head in a weird position, which he mistook for a broken neck.   
  
Soon, the fear inside transformed into something called anger, which then transformed into something called rage. Shinji was now in rage, seeing two people near him in such condition.  
  
"EEEEEEEARRRRRGH!!!!!!!!" he screamed, almost like an animal. This made Rei flinch in terror, grabbing onto Shinji even tighter. Shinji didn't notice and started charging after the egg-like thing in front of him, shooting his gun away. All the bullets made a hit but it didn't explode. Shinji then discarded the now-empty gun, ran up and pounded away with his one fist. It too a few rage-induced pounds before it exploded.   
  
Roy took care of some more of those pods and went out to look for Shinji. He transformed back into fighter jet mode and took to the skies to look for the pilot. What he saw rendered him speechless for a minute: a Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode, without an arm, and a pile of smoke next to it. "Ikari! Ikari! Oi, Ikari! Answer me!" he shouted, almost frantic. All he heard was a ragged breathing pattern on the other side and some whimpering.   
  
TBC  
  
A/N - Keep those reviews coming!!! Especially you, SRW@ Fan! 


	3. Chapter 3

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Roy took care of some more of those pods and went out to look for Shinji. He transformed back into fighter jet mode and took to the skies to look for the pilot. What he saw rendered him speechless for a minute: a Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode, without an arm, and a pile of smoke next to it. "Ikari! Ikari! Oi, Ikari! Answer me!" he shouted, almost frantic. All he heard was a ragged breathing pattern on the other side and some whimpering.   
  
"Damnit! Ikari! Anyone in there!" Roy shouted, almost frantic. Then, a thought went across his mind: there was whimpering! "Young lady, young lady, are you all right?" he asked hastily. There was no response, save the same whimpering noise from before. Roy tried again. "Young lady! If you are all right, please respond!"  
  
There was silence, the whimpering stopped. For a moment, Roy hoped that the occupants were all right, then the video communicator came to life, showing Shinji, head bent and facing down so Roy could only see the top of his head with a tightly-clutching Rei looking up with fear-stricken eyes. Roy was slightly surprised to see such red, terrifying eyes, then calmed himself. "Okay," he started calmly, "What is your name young lady?"  
  
"Ayannami Rei," she answered timidly.  
  
"OK Rei, are you all right?" Roy continued. She nodded ever so slightly, the fear receding, but still there. "Now turn to him and check to see if he is all right," Roy instructed. Rei looked at Shinji and lightly tapped on his shoulder. She was about to start, then turned back to Roy.   
  
"What is his name?" she asked.   
  
"Ikari Shinji, or at least that's what he told me," Roy answered. Rei turned back to the still bent-over Shinji and tapped his shoulder again. "Ikari-kun," she said, softly. There was no response, but the same ragged breath. "Ikari-kun, are you--" she started before a hand flew out, apparently from Shinji. It made contact with her pale and slender neck, grabbed it and pushed it all the way as far as his arm would go. Rei's head hit the glass behind her but the pain didn't register in her brain; it was busy being shocked by his sudden change in appearance. Shinji was looking back at her, with fire in his eyes, and clenched teeth; in fact, if there were some fangs in place of his teeth and a lot of fur, he could've been mistaken for a werewolf. His breathing became much louder by the second and Rei could've sworn his cheeks were moving on its own in tandem with his breathing.   
  
"Ikari!!! Get a hold of yourself!!!" Roy shouted, this time really panicking. He had never seen such speed, or change in a person's attitude, and he was definitely not expecting this from a fourteen-year-old boy who, just some twenty minutes ago, was very easy to tease.   
  
"Ikari-kun," Rei whispered, through her constricting airway, fear and terror in her voice. Her breaths were becoming shallower from the lack of air getting into her lungs, and her eyes were slowly blurring the image. "Ikari-kun," she repeated, even softer if possible. Then there was a huge explosion some few feet away from the fallen Valkyrie, apparently a shot fired by Roy in hopes of snapping him out of whatever he was in. Fortunately it did the trick. Shinji's head snappped up, his clenched teeth canged into an open mouth of confusion.   
  
'What just happened?' he thought to himself, then felt something on his hand. It was the neck of Rei that he unknowingly grabbed. He then looked up to see Rei, now about to go unconscious due to lack of air. Shinji's eyes widened and he immediately yanked his hand back, realizing what he did just now. The fear in Rei's eyes died out, only to find a new resident within Shinji's. 'I...I...I...I nearly...killed...her!!!' his mind echoed loudly. He then looked opposite of her to see a burning wreckage with pretty much nothing left but scrap iron. 'I killed that thing as well?' he asked, in disbelief and terror. Then something struck him, 'Asuka!' and turned around. He breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that her head wasn't in a twisted position like how he remembered. Then there was some movement from the redhead, followed by a moan.  
  
"What's going on? What happened? Ow, my head hurts," she moaned, trying to get up. "Shinji? Are you there?" she asked, only to find him frozen in fear and pretty much nonresponsive.  
  
Roy picked up all she said, and trying to somehow keep Shinji from going into another trance or bringing him out of it if he did, thought of teasing him, hoping to relieve him somehow. "Ah, I see that your girlfriend is up!" he pleasantly exclaimed and laughed. This did the trick; Shinji's face changed from that of fear to confusion, then to embarrasement. Asuka did the same, minus the fear section. Both teens looked down at the floor, blushing for a second, then lifted their heads back to look at Roy. "It's not like that!" they shouted in sync, both with red faces. Then both looked at each other, surprised at their simultaneous outburst, then looked away, both going "Hmph!" at the same time. This caused Roy to laugh even harder, and Rei even cracked a small smile at their reactions. Asuka then looked into the display and immediately recognized who it was.  
  
"Fokker-san!!!" Asuka squealed like a typical middle school schoolgirl.   
  
"Yes, that is my name," he replied, "And what may yours be, young lady?"  
  
"Shoryu Asuka Langley! Your number one fan...and your girlfriend!!!" she answered back, happily. This caused Shinji and Rei to give her a funny look, while Roy just casually laughed.   
  
"Well, we'll get to that later, how about if we get out of here for now?" Roy suggested, changing the subject.  
  
"Let's go! I don't want to get killed again!" Shinji shouted, stopping Asuka from pointing out the sudden change in subject. 'Or more like I don't want to kill,' he mentally added.   
  
"All right, follow me! And make sure you switch into fighter mode by flipping the "F" switch now," Roy ordered and took off. Shinji did the same and apparently gave a bit too much thrust, flattening Asuka to the chair she was sitting.  
  
"Baka! Be more careful with this thing," she exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry," he mumbled.  
  
"And don't take advantage of her there, you little pervert," she added.  
  
"Sorry," he mumbled again, obviously not paying attention to her.   
  
"Are you listening to me???" she yelled again. Before Shinji could say anything, Roy's face came on again.  
  
"You kids pipe down! You make as much noise as a newlywed couple!!!" and turned the screen off. They flew in silence towards the Macross.  
  
--------------------------------  
COMMERCIAL BREAK  
--------------------------------  
  
MEANWHILE, IN THE SHELTER,  
  
"Touji, I don't know what happened to him! Can't see him anywhere!" Kensuke whispered to Touji.  
  
"You sure?" the jock asked. Kensuke sighed, lifted his arm and slowly swung it around the room.  
  
"I've looked for Shinji three times and I've covered every square meter of this room that happens to be as big as 15 football fields side-to-side. Why don't you go up and look for him yourself if you don't believe me?" he asked in exasperated tone.  
  
"All right, all right, I believe you," Touji sighed, and slumped his shoulders, worried over Shinji's disappearance. Kensuke did the same and sat next to him, both looking down at the floor, worry etched all over their faces. Hikari then appeared and sat across from them.  
  
"You guys haven't seen Asuka have you?" Hikari asked, just as worried as the two aforementioned boys.  
  
"Nope," Kensuke answered. "Shinji too."  
  
"Ikari's missing also? Oh no..." Hikari trailed.   
  
"We can only hope for the best for those two," Touji said. The other two could only agree.  
  
BACK ON THE MACROSS  
  
Both planes came in and landed without a hitch in the hangars. Roy got out first, and approached the other Valkyrie to help out with anything possible. Shinji opened the glass and as he was about to let Rei get off, Asuka literally flew out and landed on top of Roy, that too in a rather awkward position.   
  
"Whoa, easy there Asuka," he said, getting up while helping her up. The moment both were up, she immediately latched herself onto one of Roy's arms, giggling away. Roy sighed inwardly. "All right guys, follow me." Shinji and Rei followed the de facto couple in front of them and both got into a Jeep, Roy and Asuka in the front and Shinji and Rei in the back. Roy started the engine and started driving away from the hangar.   
  
OFF TO THE BRIDGE  
  
All the bridge members were contemplating on what to do now that the Gravity Control System, their main method of lifting the gigantic fortress off, was gone. Ideas came up, and were immediately shot down because of some major flaw. Then, a beeping noise broke the silence and contemplation. Everyone ran back to their station to check. Shammy spoke up.  
  
"Sir! Ma'am! Alien crafts have been detected above us in the ionosphere! They are holding their altitude steady and apparently are not making a move!" Shammy announced from her station.   
  
Gloval sat down for a while, doing some heavy thinking, then lifted his head up. "We are going to fold out of here," he announced.  
  
"Fold??!" Misato exclaimed. "Admiral, that still hasn't been tested yet! We don't know what would happen if we fold right now!"  
  
"Lieutenant, above us is an alien fleet with a force of a size only God knows. We try to penetrate that, we'll become scrap metal by the time we reach space. If we fold, something might happen, but there's a small chance of surviving. A small chance of survival is better than none," Gloval explained calmly.  
  
Misato digested what he told her, and understood his words. "Understood sir. I apologize for my outburst," she said.   
  
"That is alright, Lieutenant. You are only doing your job," the Admiral forgave her.  
  
"All right, ladies. You heard the man. Prepare for fold," Misato ordered.   
  
"Roger!" the entire bridge crew replied, and immediately got to work at their consoles, typing and speaking away. A minute later, Misa announced, "Preparation are complete, countdown timer has started at 2 minutes." An automated message soon followed her. "T-minus two minutes until fold."  
  
"Good. Let's just hope we don't get attacked within those two minutes," Gloval said before crouching over again in his seat.  
  
OFF TO THE JEEP  
  
"T-minus one minute and thirty seconds until fold."  
  
"What's a fold?" asked Shinji quizzically.   
  
"Apparently, the Macross is trying to teleport out of here," Roy answered. 'The fold isn't stable! Who knows what will happen to us?' he added to himself.  
  
"Baka Shinji! What are you worrying over? We have Fokker-san here who'll protect us!" Asuka said, with a smirk on her face. She then grabbed onto Roy's arm even tighter. Roy chose to ignore what she said and did and kept driving.  
  
"T-minus thirty seconds until fold."  
  
"Why am I getting a bad gut feeling about this?" Shinji muttered to himself.  
  
"Baka! You're always so depressed! It's going to be fine!" Asuka told him rather strictly, even though a slight pang of worry was tugging at her as well.  
  
"..." Rei kept silent, but instead moved a bit closer to Shinji.   
  
"Five"  
  
"Four"  
  
"Three"  
  
"Two"  
  
"One"  
  
"Initiating fold"  
  
Suddenly the world became a color of blue and red and everyone was seeing triple vision. Roy in his current situation started swerving the jeep in wild patterns, with the three teens grabbing onto something for dear life. "AAAAAAAUUUUUGHHHHH!!!" Roy shouted, trying to somehow drive without crashing under the new circumstances. The Macross then started rumbling, first gently, then violently, threatening to send the jeep occupants flying out, for it had no roof. It took Roy all his willpower and whatever luck out there to keep the car going and in one piece.  
  
Shinji was holding on to the grip on the car for dear life, with Rei onto him as well. 'Please please please, not here!' he panicked to himself. Then the rumbling started and Shinji started to feel a bit afloat. He tightened the grip, trying not to fly out. Unfortunately, on the next turn...  
  
'Oh no, i'm losing my grip, my hand's growing weak!' he panicked. When Roy made a sharp 90-degree turn to the right, that was it. Shinji let his hand go and he went flying out of the car to the left with Rei in tow, crashing through a weak section of the wall and falling down into a pitch-black area.   
  
Outside the Macross, there was a huge sphere that covered the entire island and the nearby aircraft carriers floating. Everything inside the sphere was rumbling violently and its occupants were all seeing triple. In the shelter...  
  
"What the hell is this??!" Touji shouted, among the others shouting and screaming.  
  
"I don't know!" Kensuke shouted back, trying to flatten himself on the floor. The rumbling grew in strengh, and the shouts and screams grew in tandem. What seemed like an eternity of rumbling suddenly stopped and became as if nothing happened. Everyone lifted their heads up to see that it was quiet again.  
  
ON THE BRIDGE  
  
All the members slowly got up, feeling somewhat disoriented. Misato was the first to be on both feet. "Status report!"  
  
All the bridge members quickly got to their seats, disorientation gone. Claudia typed something in her console, and her breath caught. "Umm...Ma'am...you're going to have to see for yourself on this one," Claudia told, rather shaken.  
  
Misato went to her console, and paled. "Admiral," she started, trying in vain to keep her calm, "We are in the orbit of Pluto," she finished, almost about to faint.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - Notepad is good when Microsoft word is acting up. Remember folks...REVIEW!!! 


	4. Chapter 4

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 4  
  
"Are we...alive?" Touji asked, timidly.  
  
"I guess...I don't see any angels here with wings and halos if that's what you're asking," Kensuke replied, looking around amid the confusion in the air among the other people in the shelter. The two boys then heard a running sound from behind. They turned around to see Hikari running up to them.  
  
"Are you two all right?" she asked worriedly, bent over from running a bit too quickly.  
  
"Yeah, we're fine. What about everyone else?" asked the bespectacled boy.  
  
"As far as I can see, no injuries whatsoever," the freckled girl paused for a second. "I hope Ikari and Asuka are all right, wherever they are."  
  
"Oh yeah, they're having the time of their lives right now," Touji smirked. The jock then started singing, "Fly me to the moon, and let me--"  
  
*Twack!*  
  
"OW!"  
  
"Now is not the time to make crude jokes like that!" the class rep scolded. Touji could only cringe while Kensuke just shook his head in silence.  
  
ONBOARD THE SDF -- IN A PITCH-DARK AREA  
  
Shinji's head buzzed and he slowly opened his eyes. And all he saw was nothing but a pitch-black void of sorts. Slowly his eyes started to adjust to the dark and he could see details on the wall and other things lying around.   
  
'Ugh, where am I?' he thought. He realized that no one was next to him, or near him for that matter. "Asuka!" he yelled out. He only got his echo back in reply. 'I was in a jeep, then I started seeing triple, then I flew off the jeep with Ayanami,' he trailed off. Then his head shot up in realization. 'Ayanami!' He got to his feet and started to look for her. Fortunately, it was a small room so he found her in a matter of minutes, thankfully in one piece.  
  
Shinji got down to his knees on top of Rei. "Ayanami! Ayanami! Wake up!" Shinji shouted down at the still-unconcsious albino. A few seconds later, her eyes slowly opened, revealing those red irises Shinji couldn't help but find fascinating. "Ayanami! Are you OK?"  
  
"Ugh..." she let out, and moved her head to the sides to see where she was. She then looked back up at him. "I am fine,"   
  
Shinji's face then changed to a smile. "Thank God," he mumbled quietly and got off of her and sat next to her. Rei slowly sat up, making sure she wasn't hurt anywhere. Both sat quietly for a few minutes until Rei got up and approached a wall.  
  
"We should look for a way out of here," she said in her usual soft voice. Shinji barely picked that up and looked at her first in confusion, then agreed and got up and approached her. "We should split up and look for a door or a window," she suggested.  
  
"Umm...OK. I'll go to the right," Shinji answered, pointing to his right. Rei nodded in agreement and went to the left, her hand on the wall feeling for any noticeable differences in the wall structure. Shinji did likewise, towards the left. Both kids kept going their ways, raising their hands up and down every now and then, without any success of finding a door or a window, or even a ventilation opening.   
  
Eventually, since it was a small room, both met up again, but didn't see each other because they were so engrossed into finding a door of sorts. Their hands were headed towards each other without either of them realizing it. Then they made contact, Shinji's hand on top of Rei's and both looked at it with surprise. Shinji was stunned for a second, then most shocked. He immediately retracted his hand.  
  
"I...I'm sorry!" he apologized loudly, with his head bent away from Rei. He was thankful the room was dark enough that she couldn't see him blushing furiously. (A/N - so much like Love Hina eh?)   
  
Rei at first was stunned about the minor skinship. However, she felt......pleasure......from the contact. It was like a mother comforting her, telling her everything would be fine. She then said what Shinji least expected.  
  
"Please put your hand on mine again."  
  
Shinji was dumbfounded to say the least. "Umm...excuse me?"  
  
"Please put your hand on mine again," she repeated, without any change in tone or volume whatsoever.  
  
Shinji was somewhat surprised, now that he was sure about what she said. He did as she asked, and brought his hand back. He tentatively placed his hand back on hers, more nervous than ever. Rei could feel his shaking through their contact.  
  
"Ikari. Please relax," she softly instructed. Shinji then took deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves and his racing heart down. After a few breaths, he was calm, more or less.   
  
Then the feeling of relaxation that Rei had slowly took over Shinji as well. He couldn't help but observe how smooth Rei's hands were, with no scars or elevated marks whatsoever. He then took the hand on hers and slowly moved up and down Rei's hand, enjoying the smoothness and amplifying that feeling of relaxation, on both sides.  
  
Rei on the other hand was enjoying the feeling immensely. As Shinji's hand moved around on hers, she had a tingling sensation that she couldn't quite put a finger on but felt most pleasant. Then something clicked. She wanted more. She wanted more of this pleasant feeling. She wanted more of this contact. She could do only one thing.  
  
(A/N - for those certain people, this is NOT a lemon, and they are NOT going to have sex)  
  
She grabbed and hugged Shinji, tightly. This Shinji did not expect at all from a girl who did not say much, if at all, and showed little emotion. He was so surprised he just froze there, like a statue. Rei took both her hands and put it on his back. She did what Shinji did to her hand and slowly rubbed her hands across his back. Shinji felt two hands roaming across his back and instead of freezing up like earlier, relaxed. He took his hands and just clasped around her back, bringing these two teens very close. Both enjoyed the attention one was giving the other, Shinji the backrub and Rei the feeing against his body.   
  
"Let's lie down," Shinji softly whispered. Rei nodded, against his shoulder, and both slowly got down to the floor. Soon, they were lying on their sides, still connected to each other with a hug and a rub.   
  
"Ikari-kun,"  
  
"Shinji," he corrected. "Call me Shinji."  
  
"Hai." Rei paused. "Shinji, that was most enjoyable."  
  
"H-hai," Shinji stammered, his stuttering coming back. "A-ayanami?"  
  
"Rei," she corrected.  
  
"Hai," he answered. He then felt Rei snuggle against him more, bringing his blush back to him.  
  
"Shinji, I would like to sleep like this. Is this acceptable?" Rei asked, even softer than before, if such a thing was possible.  
  
Shinji took this the wrong way for a second and was about to burst out with a nosebleed before his conscience took over and re-analyzed what she just asked. "Hai," answered the usually timid boy, now replaced by some spine. Both teens got closer and soon fell asleep.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - oh my...I never expected myself to write anything similar to a Shinji/Rei fic of sorts. Anyways, I kept this chapter on one scene on purpose. PLEASE, FOLKS!!! REVIEW!!!!! 


	5. Chapter 5

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
A/N - Sincere thanks go to Norsehound and Luis for some comprehensive reviews. I am writing a crossover, but I do want to add some twists of my own, or else it's going to look too much like retelling Macross only with different characters, which I do not want to write, and which I am sure no one wants to read. So it's a fine line, but still, I appreciate the reviews, good or bad (the bad needs a reason why it's bad, not just some "it sucks" review). Keep the reviews up.   
  
And about the Robotech/Macross thing, I did this cuz I actually know people who haven't heard of Macross (believe it or not). So sorry if this gives confusion over the other Robotech eps after the Macross saga.  
  
BTW, I didn't even realize I put in that eva reference in the prev. chapter :)  
  
On with the fic now  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Let's turn time back a tad bit, while Shinji and Rei fell down into the dark...  
  
"EEEEEARGH!!!!!" Roy grunted as he tried to keep the jeep under control. His grip on the wheel left him with white knuckles. Next to him, Asuka held on to Roy with such a death grip that her knuckles turned white. The rumbling went on and the car skidded, causing too many near-crashes for both the passengers' comforts.   
  
'I don't want to die like this!!!' Asuka mentally screamed to herself. Suddenly, the rumbling stopped, catching both Asuka and Roy by surprise. Roy almost crashed the jeep one more time as he brought it to a skidding halt. Two heads came up and looked around, surprised.   
  
"Did the shaking stop?" asked Asuka timidly, most unusual from a fiery girl like her.  
  
"I guess it did," Roy replied, still trying to figure out what just happened. "Are you all right?"  
  
Asuka's demeanor changed from frightened little girl to tall-and-standing proud girl. "Of course I'm all right! Soryu Asuka Langley is always all right!"  
  
Roy smirked at her confidence, but it still lightened the overall mood. Both then shared a good laugh. Suddenly Roy stopped.  
  
"Mr. Roy? Is something wrong?" Asuka asked, noticing his sudden change in moods.   
  
"Shinji! Rei!" he exclaimed after realizing that the back seats were empty. Asuka's eyes widened and turned around. Expecting to see a boy and a girl behind her, she only saw an empty seat.  
  
"Shinji! Where did he go?" Asuka exclaimed, panicking. Roy couldn't answer the question immediately. Instead, he put his hand on Asuka's shoulder.  
  
"Asuka," he started. "Let's get out of here for now." Asuka only nodded dejectedly and followed Roy back to the jeep.   
  
IN THE BRIDGE OF THE SDF  
  
"Pluto?" asked everyone else in the room. Misato and Claudia both solemnly nodded. There was whispers going among the bridge bunnies and with Misa while Misato and Claudia faced the Admiral, who was at the moment madly trying to calculate things. Soon, a beep caught the attention of one of the bridge bunnies.  
  
"Sir! Ma'am! We are picking up multiple life forms on the radar," Shammy announced.   
  
"Zentradi?" asked Misato.  
  
"No..." trailed the long-haired girl. "These are...humans,"  
  
"WHAT???" shouted the entire bridge crew. They all headed to the radar, only to see that Shammy was indeed telling the truth. Claudia then ran out to the window that gave a view of where the humans were and saw what looked like a bunker.   
  
"Sir, there's the shelter over here," Claudia said. Misato ran over to where Claudia was and saw the shelter as well.  
  
"Apparently the fold system took more than just the SDF. It took in the shelter as well," the Admiral surmised. The rest of the crew just nodded in agreement.   
  
"Look, even the Prometheus and the Daedalus!" Misa pointed out. Everyone noticed the two aircraft  
carriers floating in space, along with a whole lot of trees, cars, buildings  
and whatever was in the city.  
  
"Well, better fetch these people then," Misato said. "Arrange for a shuttle route for the shelter and bring the people onboard the SDF."  
  
"But Lieutenant! This is a space fortress! This isn't a civilian ship!" Misa pointed out.  
  
"Well, do you have a better idea as to what to do with these defenseless civilians?" Misato asked back evenly. Misa stayed silent. "All right, set up a route and keep me posted if anything happens." The crew all nodded and started to work.  
  
IN THE SHELTER  
  
"So what's going on?" asked Touji, totally clueless, amidst the general confusion.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine," answered Kensuke, just as clueless. Soon everyone heard a loud repetitive banging noise coming from the door. A few more bangs later, the door came down to show a small convoy of soldiers, numerous shuttles and some Veritechs. Everyone became happy after seeing someone come and rescue them.  
  
"Everyone, please file into an orderly line and make your way for the shuttles. You will be briefed when you arrive at your destination," announced one soldier. The group immediately complied and all got into a line and made their way towards the waiting shuttles. Soon, full shuttles took off one after the other towards the SDF.  
  
SOMEWHERE IN THE SDF  
  
Roy and Asuka both were in the jeep, both with faces of indifference. However, down inside, both were worried about Shinji and Rei, Asuka more worried about the former. She had to admit to herself that she was worried about Shinji. 'What??? Why am I worried about that baka hentai?' she mentally reprimanded herself. But as much as she wanted to suppress her thoughts about Shinji, it kept on resurfacing in her mind. Not only was the thought of the timid boy sticking up but so was that enigmatic Ayanami Rei. She couldn't help but feel jealous about the current situation the two aforementioned teens were in.  
  
'Wait a minute...jealousy? Since when was I jealous of them???' she asked herself again.   
  
"Are you all right there?" Roy asked. Asuka jolted out of her little argument and looked at him. "You looked like you were in a trance there for a minute." Asuka was about to answer when Roy's cellphone rang. "Fokker here."  
  
"Major Fokker, as we speak, there are shuttles coming in from the shelter back at the island. Apparently the fold has taken up more than just the fortress. YOu see, at any time..." Gloval spoke before getting cut off.  
  
"Understood sir! The needs of the many are more important than the needs of the few? Understood sir!" Roy interrupted, then hung up.  
  
During the conversation, Asuka observed Roy's face go from indifference to incredulance to determination, all within the span of some twenty or thirty seconds. Once he hung up, she voiced her question. "What's going on?"  
  
"Apparently, when the ship went into the fold system, it also took the shelter and two aircraft carriers with it," Roy replied.  
  
"The shelter???" Asuka exclaimed. "That means Hikari and those guys are there!"  
  
"Yup, your friends are all gonna come onboard," Roy said, smiling. 'If only Shinji and Rei were here...' he trailed mentally. "Well, change of plans, we're going to the shuttle bay," Roy said as he changed directions and headed towards the shuttle bay. The two of them reached the shuttle bay and saw a line of people walking out. Roy stopped the jeep as Asuka got off and ran towards the line, hoping to see someone she recognized.  
  
The trio of Hikari, Kensuke and Touji slowly filed out of the shuttle, somewhat unsure of what was to happen next. The looked around to see nothing but Veritechs and soldiers running around and doing things. Then they saw a redheaded girl looking for someone.  
  
'Redhead...' trailed Hikari. Her eyes shot up in realization. "Asuka!"  
  
Asuka turned to where she heard her name. She first saw no one, then a particular freckle-faced girl caught her eye. "Hikari!" she shouted, as they ran towards each other and hugged. Both were all smiles as they met. Kensuke and Touji followed Hikari, albeit in a much slower pace, not exactly eager to hug Asuka.   
  
"Are you all right?" Hikari asked, concerned for a second.  
  
"Of course I'm all right!" Asuka beamed. "You came out unscathed yourself,"  
  
"Yeah, we were scared though," Hikari said. She noticed someone was missing among the small group. "Shinji?"  
  
"Huh?" Asuka asked, not understanding her question. "What about Shinji?"  
  
"Where is he?" Touji asked, coming up behind Hikari with Kensuke in tow.  
  
"Just disappeared with another girl," Asuka replied with fake disgust and looked away. She saw Roy talking with a few other soldiers. "Mr. Roy!!!!" she shouted, ran over to him and glomped onto one of his arms. Hikari, Touji and Kensuke just looked at her, all three thinking the same thing.  
  
'She's not telling everything.'  
  
TBC 


	6. Cahpter 6

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Shinji opened his eyes slightly, having thought that he heard some noise somewhere. He was about to get up, when he felt something, or two somethings, draped around his chest and his legs. He squinted down, to see a pale arm over his chest and an equally pale leg over his legs. Still not fully awake, he traced the pale skin to a sleeping blue-haired girl. He tried to concentrate on hearing but picked up nothing, then sighed and brought his head down.   
  
As his head hit the floor, Rei stirred. She opened her eyes to see Shinji looking back at her. Both stared down each other's eyes for a while, Rei looking in curiosity and Shinji in fascination. Then Shinji's voice snapped both, even Shinji, out of their reverie.  
  
"Umm...Rei," he started.  
  
"Hai," she responded, in her usual soft manner.  
  
"Do you mind if I get up?" he asked, somewhat unsure of himself and what her reaction would be.  
  
"Iie," she said. As she let go of Shinji and he stood up, the pale-skinned girl couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. It was as if...she wasn't warm anymore. The warmth that Shinji provided was gone and she somehow longed for it again.  
  
'But why? Why do I feel like that?' she thought to herself. An answer didn't strike her and she thought for a minute, without any success. Shinji then broke her train of thought.  
  
"Rei! I found a door! Let's explore a bit," Shinji said. He was standing in front of a door, which looked like nothing but blackness to Rei, who was a bit far away from it. She nodded her ascent and approached Shinji. Soon both went through the door and started walking cautiously, for there was no light whatsoever to guide them. They walked straight for a while until...  
  
*Oof!*  
  
Both teens hit a wall or an obstacle of sorts and fell down backwards. Shinji slowly got up, rubbing his sore prosterior, and helped Rei up, who was seemingly uninjured. They then stuck their hands out, tracing the obstacle so they could either walk past it or make a turn. Feeling no ends nearby, both decided to make a left turn and keep their hands on the wall and stared walking again, Shinji in the front, Rei a step behind. Shinji walked with his other hand sticking out, in case they might run into something else. They walked again for another five more minutes without changing directions when Shinji's outstretched hand made contact with another wall. Rei stopped right behind him.  
  
"How about we take a short break?" Shinji suggested, feeling a bit weary. Rei simply agreed and Shinji leaned back as he lowered himself down. Unknown to him, near the floor was two pipes, each with hot and cold water, that ran across the walls.  
  
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOW!!!!!!!!!" screeched Shinji as he dove forward. Rei saw this and immediately went to Shinji's aid. "Hot, hot hot..." he kept repeating to himself, trying in vain to cool a part of his back he burnt with the hot water pipe.   
  
"Shinji, are you all right?" Rei asked, with a twinge of concern.  
  
Shinji paused for a moment, then answered, "Now I am. Thanks."  
  
After that was taken care of, Rei said, "We should break the pipes," Shinji just looked at her, speechless and not understanding what she meant by breaking the pipes. The gears in Shinji's brain then slowly started again.  
  
"Break the pipes?" he started, confused. Then he paused, and realized why. "That's right! If we break the pipes, that will give us water and that will attact some attention, and when they send in people to fix it, they'll find us! Rei, you're a genius!" he beamed, glad that they could get out of here. Unknown to Shinji, Rei blushed at his compliment. "All right, let's try to look for something to break this with," he said with enthusiasm and started to feel around, hoping to find something. It took him a few moments, before he felt something and picked up what seemed to feel like a crowbar. He brought it back to the pipes. "All right Rei, stay away a bit," he warned. Rei stepped back a bit as Shinji stuck in the crowbar between the pipe and the wall and started to force it down. "Uuurgh," he groaned as he kept on pushing down without success. Rei could hear him groaning and approached him. She got on the other side of the crowbar, grabbed it and helped him push it down.   
  
*Creek!*   
  
"All right, a little bit more!" Shinji said happily.  
  
*Creek!*  
  
"It's gonna blow! Get ready!"  
  
*Boom!* Both pipes broke, letting loose a gush of warm water from the mixing of the hot and cold water. Both teens were overwhelmed by the water and fell down in a splash, breathing heavily, rubbing their arms. "I hope someone finds out about these pipes," Shinji said softly. Rei could only agree. Shinji then heard some shuffling and ruffling next to him. His curiosity sparked, knowing that only Rei was with him and him doing nothing, he asked. "What are you doing, Rei?"  
  
"I am taking my clothes off," she simply replied, like it was a normal thing to do.  
  
Shinji fainted with a massive nosebleed, and amazingly enough, recovered quickly. "R-r-r-r-r-rei!!! Don't!!!"  
  
Rei looked towards Shinji...or at least where she thought his voice was coming from and asked, somewhat confused. "Why not?"  
  
"I-i-i-it's not r-r-r-right!" Shinji stammered back, he too confused as to why she questioned the legitimacy of undressing in front of a member of the opposite gender.  
  
Rei only looked back in silence, wondering why Shinji got worked up over something that seemed most trivial. Then she continued taking her clothes off again. Shinji heard the rustling again, and not being able to stand being close to a girl about to get naked, got up and tried to run. Unfortunately...  
  
*Slip*...*Splash*  
  
Shinji slipped and fell forward. He braced himself for the hard floor again but instead landed on something rather soft and smooth. His left hand was on something that happened to be round and full, like a rice bowl and his other hand was on the floor. Dazed, Shinji just looked down at whatever broke his fall. He saw an outline of a girl and his hand felt something quite smooth, along with something poking on his palm. His brain kicked in, and he drew that hand back quickly in shock. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Shinji apologized profusely, getting up and running off, giving some distance between him and her.   
  
Rei, on the other hand, felt shock initially when she was forced down with the force of Shinji falling on her. Then shock gave way to the same feeling of relaxation she had when their hands met, which soon lapsed into the warmth she had earlier the day, only now the feelings were amplified because of the lack of cloth. The warmth disappeared again when he got up and ran off. She shook off the feeling and decided to try to take a bath of sorts with the flowing water.   
  
While Rei took her "bath", Shinji sat a distance away, still embarassed with the abrupt, and inappropriate, contact he had with Rei. Then again, he couldn't help but think how smooth and nice the skin felt, as well as the size of her...  
  
'BAD Shinji!' he mentally scolded himself, stopping the flow of iamges of a naked Rei. He got up and saw something approach him, and figured that Rei was done with her bath. He was about to get up when Rei's sillouhette started swaying uncertainly from one side to the other. "Rei!" he shouted, getting up and trying to stabilize her. Just as he got up, Rei fell forward, against him, toppling him over backwards along with her latched to him in front.   
  
"Ow," he groaned, his prosterior sore again. He lifted his arm to tap her shoulder and did so when...  
  
'Her shoulder's bare,' he noted out of random. "Rei, Rei, are you all right?" he asked, somewhat worried. All he got was nothing but a slow, rhythmic breathing on his neck. 'Looks like she's asleep,' he figured, then yawned. 'Speaking of sleep, I could make use of that now,' he thought and was about to lift Rei and put her to her side when he noticed something as he placed his hands on her waist.  
  
'They're...bare...I thought Rei's blouse covered her entire midriff,' Shinji noted. Then, he added his findings from the bare shoulder and the bare midriff and did not like what he came up with.  
  
'Rei's.....NAKED!!!!!' he mentally screamed as he had another nosebleed and fainted, this time for a much longer period.  
  
MEANWHILE...SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE SPACE SHIP  
  
"That's funny," said a construction worker. "No water whatsoever,"  
  
"Eh?" asked another construction worker. "What do you mean?"  
  
"See for yourself," the first guy said as he turned the tap on and off. "No water."  
  
"Interesting, guess we should report this, but to who? Is anyone else having water trouble?"   
  
"Not that I know of."  
  
"Oh well, let's go look for water somewhere else," and a small group of workers took off for a nearby restaurant, which happened to be a Chinese one, which also happened to be the exact one back on South Ataria Island.  
  
"I'm sorry, we're also having water problems here as well," the woman in charge of the restaurant told the workers. They left, somewhat disappointed and somewhat curious as to why there was a water stoppage all of a sudden. She sighed, then Tohru approached her.   
  
"Mom, any news of cousin Rei?" he asked, curious as to why Rei hadn't shown up in the ship.  
  
"No, but she'll be back. Trust me, she'll be back," the woman said with false confidence. 'Rei, wherever you are, come now! Stop worrying your auntie so much and come back!'   
  
"You know, Maya, you are stressing way too much over our niece. Give it a rest or you'll get a nervous breakdown," her husband approached her with a bowl of vegetables.  
  
"Well, I try, but it's just so hard!" the short-haired woman replied. "Besides, Shigeru, you're way too calm for someone who's worried."  
  
"Panic does no good, it will only make the situation worse. A calm head will be able to think out of a situation and hence not make it any worse than needed," the long-haired and somewhat taller man replied.   
  
"Well, that is true," Maya trailed as she started cutting the vegetables. "And Shigeru, hun, please tie that hair back when you're in the kitchen! I don't want the food to have random strands of hair in it!"  
  
"That's better," he smiled. 'Now to report this water problem and somehow think of a way to find Rei,' he thought to himself. Word was that various places were not getting any water while others were still and he started a quick letter describing the problem and handed it to some soldiers who were on guard. 'Let's hope the letter goes through,' he hoped.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - heh, some chapter...please folks, review review, onegai. 


	7. Chapter 7

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 7  
  
A week has passed since the folding incident and the subsequent events that happened right after it, with the admittance of the residents from South Ataria Island and the disappearance of Shinji and Rei in particular. With the help of the workers who grabbed anything and everything that was folded with the fortress and within reach of the fortress, the residents have made remarkable progress in rebuilding most of the city and having a semblance of a normal life within a superfortress. Almost all of the citizens, amazingly, had proper housing with water and electricity running into them and save the two missing teens, everyone else was in the city, now simply known as Macross City.   
  
"Ma'am, this is a letter from the citizens of Macross City. Since we couldn't find Admiral Gloval, we thought we should give this to you," a guard saluted, then gave her a letter. Claudia nodded her thanks and entered a staff room.  
  
"This is interesting," mumbled Claudia as she drank her coffee and read the letter. She, with Misa and Misato, were taking a break from monitoring for any more invasions, even for a short period of time.  
  
"What is it?" Misato asked, somewhat interested, as she got to one side of Claudia. After all, it wasn't every day when you received a letter from someone within the fortress. Misa sat on the other side, just as interested in the letter.  
  
"It's from the residents. It says 'To whom this may concern, we first thank you for granting us space onboard the fortress to continue with our lives. There has been a problem, however, onboard this space fortress. Some parts of the city isn't getting any water, as if the supply was just cut and it is causing some difficulty in living for some residents. We hope you recieve this letter in a timely manner and you can resolve this issue as quickly as possible. On behalf of the residents, Aoba Shigeru.' Water problems?" Claudia looked up after reading the letter.  
  
"We don't have any of the blueprints for the fortress onboard do we?" asked Misa.   
  
"No, at least not that I know of," Misato answered.  
  
"Hmm..." Claudia mused, before a beeping noise was heard from her watch. "Break's up, back to work," she groaned as she unwillingly got up. The others did likewise and headed back to the bridge.  
  
BACK IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE (OR NOWHERE, DEPENDING ON YOUR NATURE)  
  
"It's been a week since we broke this pipe and no one's come to get us," Shinji muttered, more to himself, though Rei picked it up.  
  
"We will be fine," she said softly. This caused the timid boy to turn his head to her, wondering what she meant.   
  
"At least we have water that'll last," he mumbled again. Rei silently agreed to that.  
  
ON THE BRIDGE  
  
"Current status?" Gloval asked as he entered the bridge. A chorus of "All clear" was his reply as he sat down. Then Misato remembered something.  
  
"Admiral?" she started. Gloval turned to face her. "Do we have any blueprints of the SDF?"  
  
"No. Why do you ask?" Gloval asked, quite confused as to why someone needed the blueprints.  
  
"Well, we recieved a letter from the citizens of Macross City about how some houses were not getting any water," the purple-haired lieutenant explained.   
  
"Interesting. Send out a couple workers to the city and have them look at it," the admiral ordered.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
IN WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS MACROSS CITY  
  
"It's been a week, haven't those people recieved our letter or are they just ignoring us?" asked Maya, now more worried than ever.  
  
"I guess I'll have to write another one then," Shigeru sighed, and started to go get a pen and a piece of paper. Then a jeep with people wearing the UN Spacey insignia on their shirts came into the restaurant. One of them approached Shigeru.  
  
"Are you Aoba Shigeru?" he asked, his other fellow workers behind him.  
  
"That's me," the long-haired man said. "Is there something I can do for you?"  
  
"You are the one who sent out a complaint about water problems?"  
  
"Yes, you're here to fix that?" he started, somewhat excited and relieved.  
  
"Yes. Please show us which houses are affected right now," the worker requested, and Shigeru took them outside the restaurant. "All these houses down this road have been affected," he said as he pointed down a row of houses and buildings down the street. The worker nodded and approached a road intersection closest to the restaurant. "Take out the roadblocks and cover the entire block," he ordered the other workers. They nodded, took out a bunch of roadblocks and took them to the ends of the streets that meet at the intersection. He then approached the curb and effortlessly took off a tile. Underneath it revealed a number pad and a display, apparently some part of a door of sorts. He punched in a number sequence and a second later, a slight rumbling was heard as a piece of the intersection slowly descended, then slid over to one side. By then, the group who went off to place road blocks were back and about to enter.  
  
"This is crew group A4. We're about to descend in Section B9," he said over a radio he carried.  
  
"Roger. Proceed A4," the radio blared back. The group slowly descended into the darkness.  
  
AGAIN, IN THAT SAME MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE (OR NOWHERE)  
  
Shinji lifted his head as he heard a rumbling noise that sounded like it came from his right and the top.   
  
"Did you hear that noise?" he asked, making sure he wasn't hearing anything.  
  
"Hai," Rei replied quietly.  
  
"Hope that's rescue workers," Shinji vocally hoped.   
  
BACK TO THE WORKERS  
  
The small group turned on their flashlights as they started walking, looking for any broken pipes or signs of one. It took a while as they kept on walking forward. Soon someone stepped on a puddle.  
  
"Sir, found some water here. Looks like we have a trail," one guy pointed out.  
  
"All right, good job," said the leader, who was also the one talking to Shigeru earlier. "Let's follow it," he said and the group started following it, making noise as they kept on going  
.  
SWITCH TO SHINJI AND REI  
  
Both teens were now tired and hungry, but hopeful that someone might be coming to get them.  
  
"I don't hear them," Shinji whispered, somewhat disappointed at the lack of action. Rei just looked on silently.   
  
'So I might die here, without doing anything special. Without doing everything I wanted. Without loving...that special someone,' Shinji thought to himself, becoming depressed and bringing his kness to his chest. Seven days of lack of food and lack of heat was about to make him give in to the charm of sleep and most likely hypothermia. "I feel tired," he mumbled before closing his eyes and dipping his head forward.  
  
Rei heard that and panicked. 'He can't sleep like this! He'll die!' "Shinji," she said, louder than usual. This did the trick as Shinji threw his head back in surprise and banged it on the wall behind him, keeping him awake longer than Rei anticipated. "Shinji," she repeated, back in her usual soft voice.  
  
"Ow-ow-ow..." he replied, not hearing Rei call him again and rubbing his now-sore head.   
  
"Shinji," she repeated, a bit louder this time.   
  
This caught Shinji's attention. "Hai?"  
  
"Do not sleep here."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You will fall into a coma."  
  
"..." Shinji didn't know anything about hypothermia at all and kept silent in confusion. He then focused on something else and realized that he was cold. Quite cold indeed. He started shivering a bit. "Cold," he mumbled. He saw Rei's figure approach him and what happened next caught him by surprise. She sat behind him and hugged him from behind, her legs sticking out and her arms around Shinji, who was hugging his legs.   
  
"Do not sleep," the albino girl whispered right next to Shinji's ear. Shinji soon overcame the shock and started to feel some warmth coming back to him and the sleep was going away bit by bit. He then did something that even he did not expect until he did it. He slowly got up, bringing Rei up with him, turned around to face her and hugged her in return, trying to return some of the warmth. Rei, somewhat surprised herself, stood frozen for a minute, then hugged the usually timid boy back, feeing warm herself, both inside and out. Both stood still, maintaining the hug for a while, sharing some body heat and feeling revitalized. Then both teens heard the sound of something walking on puddles, then lights from a flashlight on the pipes some distance away.  
  
"They're here!" Shinji exclaimed. "Help!!! Over here!!!"  
  
AROUND THE CORNER  
  
The workers heard Shinji's cry and started running. Each person shone his flashlight in a different direction as they ran straight. Seconds later, they saw the teens hugging each other as Shinji waved his hand around.   
  
"Can you help us out of here please?" Shinji asked, smiling wide.  
  
"You guys start getting to work. I'll help these guys out and come back," the leader said. "All right, I'll lead the way, stay close to me."  
  
"Hai!" Nothing more was said as the leader brought the two back outside into the city.  
  
OUTSIDE THE HOLE  
  
There was a small crowd that started developing when the workers went in, all mumbling among themselves.  
  
"It's taking them quite a while," Shigeru whispered to his wife.  
  
"Yeah...I hope they aren't lost or anything," Maya whispered back. Then her breath got stuck in her throat. Out of the hole didn't come out the group, but a man with Rei and a teenage boy she couldn't recognize. He was holding onto her, making sure she wouldn't fall over or anything. When they got onto the road, the leader let them go and went back down. Maya broke through the crowd and almost tackled Rei.  
  
"Rei! Oh Rei! Are you all right?" she shouted, crying streams. Rei looked back and impassively answered, "Hai."  
  
Shigeru came through the crowd, albeit slowly and calmly, gave the two a quick hug, and approached Shinji. "What's your name, young man?"  
  
"Ikari. Ikari Shinji," he replied, timid mode back in motion.  
  
"Well, Shinji, I'm Shigeru and that's Maya over there. We're her uncle and aunt and we'd like to thank you for taking good care of her," he said as he slapped Shinji in the back. The force almost knocked the quiet teen over but he caught himself.   
  
"Ah, well, you're welcome," he said, smiling, and blushing, slighly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to head home myself." 'Wait...where's home?' he mentally panicked.  
  
"I doubt you'll be able to find your way around here right now. Why don't you stay with us for the time being? After all, we do need to thank you properly for saving our niece's life, and some help will be appreciated," Shigeru suggested, as he put his arm around Shinji's shoulder and slowly ushered him towards the restaurant.  
  
"Ah, no no no, it'll be too much of a hassle for you!" Shinji tried to back out politely but it was in vain.  
  
"Don't worry about such trivial matter! Come on in!" Shigeru countered, smiling and this time ushering him even quicker. Shinji was left speechless and just followed him helplessly as Rei looked on. The crowd dispersed, talking among themselves and speculating as well as to what the two teens were doing down there, thoughts ranging from weird to possible to lecherous.   
  
TBC  
  
A/N - Sorry if this chapter is somewhat disappointing, I just have to get it out of my system. Think of it as a mental dump. Thanks.  
  
oh and PUH-LEEZE!!!!! REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!! 


	8. disclaimer

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
DISCLAIMER!!!!  
  
I realize I forgot to put this in my fic and it took 7 chapters for me to realize it. Evangelion and Macross do not belong to me; they belong to their respective companies (Gainax and Harmony Gold and any others). None of the characters belong to me either except Tohru.   
  
THAT'S IT!!! DISCLAIMER!!! DON'T SUE ME!!! 


	9. Chapter 8

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 8  
  
"WHAT???"  
  
The foursome group of Asuka, Hikari, Touji and Kensuke gathered around a TV showing the news. But it wasn't just any news that elicited that reaction -- it was the image of Shinji, battered, wet and dirty but very alive, that came on.   
  
"Apparently, Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei were stuck in this particular section of the fortress for the past week after the folding caused them to fall into this area. They managed to attract attention by breaking a water pipe, causing a letter of complaint to be sent to the military and triggering a rescue from a simple fix-up," the reporter announced, much to the disbelief of the teens.  
  
'So that's where he was the whole time,' she said, and put a face of relief. Hikari noticed this and Asuka reacted; the face changed from relief to anger. "If that pervert laid a finger on that girl, I will so pummel him!"  
  
Hikari noticed the quick change. "Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure," she sarcastically agreed.   
  
IN THE CHINESE RESTAURANT  
  
Closing time was approaching in the restaurant as Shinji ushered the remainder of the customers out and started cleaning up, much to Shigeru's and Maya's disapproval. They still insisted that Shinji not do anything and just relax, but Shinji's conscience couldn't stand not helping out and disagreed; eventually, they let him work as well. A half-hour later, after all the customers were gone, the restaurant was cleaned up and everyone was ready to head to the rooms.  
  
"Oh, Rei, please show Shinji to the guest room," Maya said as she and Shigeru entered their room. Rei nodded and motioned to Shinji to follow her. A few feet past the door to Shigeru's and Maya's room was another door which Rei opened. The guest room was plain with a bed, blanket, pillow and a closet, as well as a balcony, but Shinji didn't mind.   
  
'Oh man...a bed!' he groaned mentally, suddenly feeling all the fatigue cumulated over the past week sleeping, or attempting to sleep, on a hard floor. "Thank you, Rei," he thanked.  
  
"You're welcome," she replied in her quiet tone as she left the room and closed the door behind her. Shinji then got ready to sleep, but as he laid down, he heard a soft voice coming from what seemed to be outside. Intrigued, he got up and walked outside to the balcony to find the source of the voice and saw Rei a small distance away to his right, singing, and oblivious to his presence.   
  
"Toki ga nagareru  
Ai ga nagareru  
Watashi no mae o kanashii kao shite  
Anata wa kitto ikusa ni yuku no ne  
  
Otokotachi wa minna tsukareta yoo ni  
Kuchimoto hikishime hitomi o moyashi  
Ashinami o soroete  
  
Watashi wa kitto okisarareru wa  
Ikusa no tame ni  
Hokori no tame ni  
Toki wa nagareru  
Ai wa nagareru  
Kuchihateru watashi wa..."  
  
Shinji couldn't help but be awestruck by her soft, melodius voice. Her softness actually fit very well with the song, making it sound so much nicer and pleasing to his ears. As Rei stopped singing, she noticed something to her left out of the corner of her eyes and turned. She was somewhat surprised to see Shinji looking back at her. A few seconds later, Shinji noticed her looking at him.  
  
"That was...very nice," he said softly. Rei only blushed slightly at his compliment. "You know, you should sing more often," he then suggested, which Rei blushed even more at again.  
  
"Thank...you," she thanked, somewhat hesitantly, and looked at his reaction. He smiled back at her. "Would you like me to..." she trailed off.  
  
"Yes," Shinji answered, knowing what the red-eyed girl was going to ask. "Please continue."  
  
"Hai," she said, and turned to face forward again.  
  
"Toki ga nagareru  
Ai ga nagareru  
Anata no mae o munashii kao shite  
  
Watashi wa zutto ikusa o nikumu wa  
Onnatachi wa minna tachinaotte yuku wa  
Ha o kuishibari sesuji o nobashite  
Kodomora no tame ni  
  
Anata wa kitto kaette kuru wa  
Ikusa o yamete  
Ikiru tame ni  
  
Toki wa nagareru  
Ai wa nagareru  
Kuchihateru mae ni wa..."  
  
Shinji was now spellbound, Rei's voice had captivated him fully. He just looked at her, trying to take in as much of her voice as he could. To his disappointment, she was finished singing and walked back into her room. He did likewise and went to sleep, Rei's voice singing in his head as he drifted off.  
  
NEXT MORNING  
  
"Come on! Let's look for that baka!" Asuka shouted.  
  
"Why are you so intense on finding Shinji all of a sudden?" Kensuke asked. Touji and Hikari were quite confused. "I thought you wanted to leave him and that girl alone."  
  
"He's a pervert! Who knows what he'll do to her?" the fiery redhead retorted.  
  
"Reason's not good enough," Touji said. He was thinking of something else, which was being commonly thought of by the other two.   
  
"Asuka," Hikari said. The aforementioned girl gave Hikari her full attention. "Are you jealous?"  
  
The vocalized thought did wonders to her. Asuka first paled, then went into a full-blown blush of embarrasement, then the blush changed to a red face of anger.  
  
"What kind of a stupid question is that??? How could you have stooped to the level of these Stooges???" Asuka yelled at her friend. Pedestrians were giving her funny looks as they passed by her. "Anyways, let's just go look for him!" The other three teens just followed in silence. After some walking and turning, they ended up in front of the Chinese restaurant where Shinji was working and staying. "OK, let's split up. We'll go down one road from this intersection for the next two or three blocks and ask where Shinji is. Half an hour later, let's meet here again." she suggested, or more like ordered, and took off one way. The others shrugged and went down different paths themselves.  
  
HALF AN HOUR LATER  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"No one knows."  
  
"DAMNIT!" Asuka groaned, frustrated, hungry and thursty. She noticed the Chinese restaurant they were standing in front of. "Let's get some food," she suggested. For the first time that day, there was a unanimous agreement. They walked into the restaurant and Shigeru saw them and ushered them to a table as he took their orders. He went back to the kitchen with their orders on hand.  
  
"Shinji! Two spicy pork and vegetable noodle soups and two large orders of fried rice!" Shigeru yelled.  
  
"Hai!" Shinji yelled back as he headed towards the fridge to get some ingredients. Fifteen minutes later, the food was ready. "Orders for Table 4 are done!" he yelled again. Rei approached the kitchen and took the tray of food towards the foursome sitting at a table. As she placed each dish in front of each person, Asuka looked at her.  
  
'Something seems familiar,' she thought to herself. 'Blue hair, red eyes,' she repeated, trying to put a picture. Then it struck her. 'She's that girl Shinji was stuck with!' "Hey! You're that girl Shinji was with!" she said. Rei only looked back at Asuka. "You know what happened to Shinji?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
Asuka waited for her to continue, only to get nothing. "Well then, where is he?" she asked, becoming very impatient and forgetting her hunger and thirst.  
  
"In the kitchen," she said. Just as she finished saying it, Asuka was gone in a blur of red, headed towards the kitchen.  
  
(A/N - I dunno whether I should stop here or go on...oh well, let's go on)  
  
"Oi! Shinji!" Asuka yelled out. Shinji literally dropped everything he was doing and just froze.   
  
'That voice...I know that voice.'  
  
As the teenage boy stood there frozen, Asuka entered the kitchen as quickly as her walking legs would allow. Shinji thawed back to see Asuka approaching him with a nasty look in her eyes. When she was in striking distance, the timid boy automatically cringed, waiting for the inevitable attack. Instead...  
  
"Come here, you," Asuka whispered as she gave him a very strong bear hug. Shinji was again caught by surprise as the normally violent girl he knew as Asuka was...hugging him. He was...confused, to say the least as to why there was the sudden attitude change. However, he knew that times like these are rare so he decided to make use of it and hug back. Too bad it only lasted a minute or two.  
  
"Whoa! Shinji! Shoryu! Never knew you guys had something for each other!" Touji yelled, smirking. Hikari and Kensuke were behind him, Hikari only looking with shocked silence and Kensuke taping the couple in the kitchen. This snapped something in Asuka.  
  
"OK, what did you do to that poor girl??" she interrogated as she broke the hug and whacked him in the head.  
  
"Nothing!" he yelled back, annoyed.  
  
"What nothing? She's not herself!"  
  
"We did NOTHING! N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!" Shinji yelled again, this time with some spine. "Now if you don't mind, I have some more cooking to do. We can talk tomorrow over lunch, when I have my day off. Now shoo!" he said, pushing Asuka out much to her displeasure and locking the door after she got out.  
  
Back at the table, Asuka was fuming. "How dare he..." she could only let out as the other three teens gave her looks, that too the same look. 'Jealous?' the eyes seemed to mock her. Defeated, she looked back down at her food and started eating it, and so did the others. The meal proceeded and ended in silence as each teen paid up his/her share of the meal and left.   
  
"You know, I'd like to hear what Ikari has to say about his experiences," Hikari said casually as they walked down the street. It was, however, more to get Asuka to come than her curiosity.  
  
"Yeah, how the hell did they survive for a week in that place?" Kensuke mock-wondered, catching Hikari's drift.  
  
"How did he even end up there in the first place?" Touji said, catching the drift as well.   
  
For someone who was smart, Asuka did not get at what the others were thinking. "Why are you so interested? For all I know, he might've taken advantage of that blue-haired girl!" she tried to kill the plan but it didn't turn out the way she wanted it to turn out.  
  
"Jealous, Shoryu?" asked Touji. Instead of threatening to hit him, or hit him outright, she "hmphed" and left off on her own. "We're meeting at the restaurant at 12 o'clock tomorrow! Remember!" he shouted at the retreating form. Hikari and Kensuke just chuckled a bit at the redhead's lack of reaction.  
  
"She'll be there," Hikari said. The other two boys just nodded in agreement.   
  
THE NEXT DAY, AT LUNCH TIME  
  
Shinji hung up his apron after cooking his last meal for the day and walked out of the kitchen as Maya walked in and prepared herself. He was somewhat surprised to see Hikari, Touji and Kensuke eating and looking at him. "Well, you DID say to come back today at lunch time if we wanted to hear you talk," the bespectacled boy reminded the dumbfounded chef.  
  
"Oh yeah," Shinji remembered, and grabbed a seat. He noticed one person missing. "Where's Asuka?" Just as he finished asking the question, the doors opened and Asuka entered, like a cue from a play.  
  
"Speak of the devil..." Touji trailed.  
  
"Was that meant to be a pun?" Kensuke asked the jock.  
  
"All right, spill," Asuka ordered as she sat down at the table. "What did you do down there? And I don't want minute-by-minute hentai detail."  
  
Shinji just sighed. 'What is with her? First she hugs me, then whacks me and now accuses me.' He then proceeded to tell them their weeklong marooning inside the fortress, skillfully and sensibly leaving out the intimate moments he shared with Rei, during which the group gave him their full attention. After he finished recounting the entire story, Hikari had some thoughts that just hit her.  
  
"So what are you going to do about a place to stay? You weren't around when the workers were scavenging buildings and stuff so you don't have a house at all. Maybe it's a good thing you lived by yourself after all," she asked.  
  
"Well, I'm staying at Rei's for now," Shinji answered. The group gave him a blank look. "Oh! Rei's the girl I was marooned with," he quickly added.  
  
"WHAT??????" the group exclaimed.  
  
"What did you do with that girl???"  
  
"Why her place???"  
  
"Shinji you sly dog!!!"  
  
"Ikari! You live in a world of sin!!!"  
  
"GUYS!!!!!!" he shouted. Everyone shut up. "Asuka, for the last time, I did nothing of that sort with her. I'm staying at her place because her aunt and uncle offered me a spare room and work and some pocket money for the work and I'm also enjoying it myself. Besides, since I don't have my place anymore, I don't have anywhere else to stay," he explained. Then, as an afterthought, "And I am NOT going to try to sleep with her!"  
  
The group finally calmed down after hearing his explanation, even though Asuka still glared at him, albeit with a bit less force than usual. Shinji just hung his head and shook it when he saw her glare. The group chatted around for a while, bringing Shinji up to speed about the town and its differences from South Ataria Island, apart from the fact that they were in space, and later on left the restaurant as Shinji himself headed up towards his room, wanting to go out and explore the new city for a while. He grabbed his wallet and his keys and went out of the restaurant after telling Shigeru about his intentions and started to wander around, taking in the sights. After a while, he saw a music store with a bunch of instruments on display. 'The cello...too bad I lost it in space,' he mused sadly. 'Hope it doesn't hurt to play it a bit,' he hoped as he entered the store.  
  
"Hi there, how can I help you?" the store owner asked with a smile.   
  
"Hi. Can I take a look at that cello over there?" Shinji asked, pointing at the cello on display.  
  
"Knock yourself out," he said as another customer entered the store. Shinji saw a stool nearby and brought it with him to the display. He grabbed the cello and bow and after running a very short piece and tuning it, started a piece himself. It took a few measures for his fingers to remember the cello but after that he was playing it very smoothly. The customer and the shopkeeper stopped for a while to watch Shinji play, stunned at his high skill in playing it. A few minutes later, Shinji finished the piece, and was surprised with the applause he got, even if it were only two people.  
  
"That was a most fabulous rendition of 'Air'," the shopkeeper complimented. The customer nodded in agreement. Shinji just blushed and smiled as he put one of his hands behind his head. "Can you play more pieces?"  
  
"Can I?" he asked, surprised at the shop owner's enthusiasm.  
  
"Please! That was very nice!" Shinji picked up the bow again and played Suiten für Violoncello solo Nr.1 much to the shopkeeper's delight. This went on as Shinji played a few more pieces and customers came and went. Finally, after about a couple hours' worth of playing, Shinji stopped, tired.   
  
"I'm sorry, but I'm tired now," Shinji said, somewhat embarrased of it.  
  
"That's perfectly all right. I really enjoyed your little concert," the shopkeeper said smiling. "Do you have a cello?"  
  
"I used to. It got lost during the fold," Shinji said, a bit sadly, and hung his head.  
  
"Ah." Pause. "I'll tell you what." Shinji looked back up at him. "I'll let you have this cello for free under one condition." Shinji had a big smile on his face. "You come here once every week and play for an hour or two. I like your music. Deal?" he asked as he stretched his hand out.  
  
Shinji was now more than happy. He grabbed the offered hand and shook it hard. "Deal!" Five minutes later, Shinji walked out of the store, cello in hand, happier than ever and headed back to the restaurant.   
  
A FEW HOURS LATER  
  
The restaurant was closed and now everyone has retired to their respective rooms. Shinji decided to play the cello now that it was quiet and picked up the bow to play Bach's "Prelude".  
  
Rei, in the other room, was lying belly down, her chin on her hands in front, thinking. 'Singing. Shinji likes my singing. Does that mean anything else?' she asked herself mentally. Her thoughts were broken by a faint cello playing from next door. Curious, she got up and tried to hear more of it but couldn't make out much. She walked out of her room and approached Shinji's room where the music was coming from. Silently, she opened the door and saw Shinji, playing the cello, eyes closed in concentration as his left hand fingers were gliding across the neck and the bow went back and forth, dipping and raising every now and then. She stood there, captivated by Shinji and his cello, and liking the music it was letting out. She herself tried to take in as much of the cello as she could, just like how Shinji was trying to take in much of her singing some time ago.   
  
The music then ended and Shinji looked up. He was surprised to see Rei in the room, looking down at him as well. "Umm...Rei, is there something I can do for you?" he asked, uncertain.  
  
"No," she said. Then she hesitantly added, slightly blushing, "You play well,"  
  
Shinji blushed at the compliment. "Thank you Rei," Rei then blushed a bit more and left the room. Shinji looked at her as she left, then put the cello away as he got ready to sleep. He lay on the bed, thinking. 'I cannot stay here for too long, it is not what I wanted to do,' he thought to himself. Then he added, 'Just exactly WHAT do I want to do?' He started to have images from the day everything started to today, and saw the pictures of him in the Valkyrie more often than anything else. 'I should become a pilot...yeah, a pilot,' he said to himself. The thoughts of being a pilot circled in his head as he drifted off to sleep.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N -- The first song I had Rei sing is "Ai wa Nagareru" from Macross: DYRL. If you didn't catch it earlier, all the classical pieces I mentioned all come from Eva. Oh well, another chapter done, planning the others. Expect to see the others in action within the next 3 chapters or so.   
  
Ja mata!  
-bug-chan 


	10. Chapter 9

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 9  
  
A couple weeks has passed since the night he had thought about joining the military. What troubled Shinji most was the way on breaking the news to the two adult restaurant owners...as well as Rei. Finally, he had enough of fretting and asked them to come to a table on a quiet day.  
  
"WHAT???????"  
  
Shinji, Rei, Maya and Shigeru were sitting at a table on a particularly quiet day, drinking tea and relaxing. Well, at least Rei was relaxing, Shigeru and Maya were now worked up over Shinji's announcement and the timid boy was taking all he had not to wince and hide inside him like a turtle.  
  
"The military?" Shigeru asked, not believing his ears.  
  
"You want to be a pilot?" Maya tried to confirm.  
  
"Yes. I intend on training for a pilot," Shinji replied, managing to keep eye contact with both adults.  
  
"But why? Don't you like the restaurant?" the short-haired woman asked, somewhere near bursting to tears again.  
  
Shinji dipped his head and sighed. He then brought his head up and looked at Maya. "Maya-san, I really like this restaurant. However, I cannot stay here forever. I want to go out there and do what I want to do in my dreams. Besides, the military is having a pilot shortage so I'm sure I'll be accepted."  
  
Both adults and Rei looked at Shinji, one about to cry and the other two retaining emotionless faces. After a minute, Shinji got up to start packing. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go upstairs and start packing," he said. Maya suddenly got up, latched onto Shinji and started...bawling. Shinji was taken by surprise, never expecting her to do such a thing, and the same was said for Shigeru, who tried to calm her down and let go of Shinji.   
  
"Maya, it's OK, let him go. He'll visit us whenever he gets the chance, right?" he looked up at the teen, who vigorously nodded. Maya's sobbing slowed, and finally stopped as she let go of Shinji and he went upstairs to start packing. When he was out of sight, both adults sat down.  
  
"I couldn't help it!!! I'm so embarrased now!" Maya said.  
  
"There, there, it's OK, it can happen. Even I'm a bit saddened at him leaving," her long-haired husband comforted her. Then, as a joke, he added, "If no one else knew better, he would've thought Shinji was our son."  
  
Maya looked back at him, almost about to burst into tears again. "But he DOES remind me of our son!!!"  
  
Shigeru sighed. "I do hope Gendo is doing well over in Japan. At least he didn't get sucked in by a spaceship like us."  
  
Meanwhile, oblivious to the conversation taking place below him, Shinji was packing what little clothes and belongings he had when he heard a slight frapping on the door. "Come in!" he yelled. The door opened to show Rei walk in and close the door. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.  
  
Rei slightly hesitated before she asked, "You said," she paused, slightly blushing, "that I sang well?"  
  
Shinji started blushing as well. "Ummm...yeah, I did. I really thought you sounded nice that night."  
  
"Thank you," she thanked, then hesitated, again. "There is an idol contest being planned onboard called Miss Macross. Should I join?" she inquired.  
  
"You? Yes, you should join! You'll do very well, if not win it!" he complimented excitedly. He then realized that he sorta shouted at her. "Oh. I got a bit too overexcited. Sorry," he said, somewhat embarassed of himself.  
  
"No, it's all right," Rei calmed him down, although both were still blushing. There was an awkward silence that drifted for a while before Rei broke it. "Good luck in your training tomorrow, Shinji."  
  
"Thank you, Rei. Good luck with your singing as well," he reciprocated as he finished up packing. 'Guess I'm really going. No turning back now.'  
  
The next day, Shinji left, much to the sadness of Rei, Maya and Shigeru, towards the barracks to start his training for the next couple months. 'At least I won't have to really rely on someone for housing and food now,' he thought, smiling slightly as he left.  
  
Many months passed, during which the Macross made its way across the Solar System, fend off Zentradi attacks, towards Earth, with constant running, shooting, jumping and piloting on Shinji's part. During that time, Asuka, Hikari, Touji and Kensuke heard word from Rei that Shinji went off to the military and repeatedly tried to make contact, without success. Finally, the training ended and Shinji was officially a pilot, along with his own room in the barracks and a monthly salary of sorts.   
  
While Shinji was training, Rei was training for a different sort: singing. Inspired by Shinji's single compliment and suggestion of entering Miss Macross, she sang almost every night before going to bed, with his words echoing in her head as she drifted off.  
  
After waiting for a response and not getting one, the foursome had enough and decided to join the military as well; Asuka and Hikari enlisted in communications and logistics while Touji and Kensuke enlisted for a pilot position, much to Kensuke's glee and joy. They too went through a very rigorus training program, though Asuka and Hikari did not need as much and within two months the girls were ready for official duty. The guys, however, continued their training by piling up hours on the flight simulators, honing their skills and becoming eager for actual battle. Unfortunately, the foursome still couldn't get in touch with Shinji, even though they were in the military themselves.   
  
'FINALLY!!!! Some time off!!!' Shinji mentally cheered to himself. 'Though I have a mission tomorrow...my first sortie. Oh well.' He then remembered, 'Oh yeah! Rei!'   
and quickly headed to the Chinese restaurant which he now knew very well. Upon getting there...  
  
"Why good afternoon, sir! What can I--" Shigeru asked before recognizing who it was. "Shinji!!!! Come on in!!!" he motioned the teen to a table. "I'll be right with you," he said as he headed towards the other customers. Shinji waited for a while and looked around. The restaurant was now much livlier, with more customers and more waiters and waitresses. However, he couldn't see Rei anywhere. 'Probably the kitchen,' he rationed to himself. A waiter came by with some tea and took his order as Shinji slowly sipped it. The order came, but it wasn't brought by any ordinary waiter.   
  
"Rei!" he said, smiling wide. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said. Even though her voice and her face retained no emotion, her eyes seemed to shine. "I am sorry but I cannot talk with you right now. We are very busy," she apologized, her eyes losing a bit of the shine.   
  
"That's all right, how about if we meet tonight at the park near here? After your restaurant closes?" he suggested.  
  
"That would be acceptable," she agreed, her eyes shining again. "Excuse me," she excused herself as she left for the kitchen. Shinji looked at her form as she was walking away. 'Funny I never realized she was beautiful,' he mused, then realized what he said to himself and blushed. He ate, paid and left to look around the city to kill time, then headed back for the barracks to catch a nap and talk with other pilots to kill time.  
  
Nighttime came about and Shinji looked at the clock. '9:30, better go to the park to meet Rei,' he thought to himself as he dressed and headed out. He got there five minutes shy of 10 and waited, somewhat nervous, in front of a waterfall. 'Now Shinji, you aren't asking her out on a date or asking her to sleep with you,' he thought to himself, and managed, with great willpower,   
not to get a nosebleed. At 10 sharp, he saw a figure approach him, who turned out to be Rei.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah. Just wanted to see how you were during the past two months," he said.  
  
"I've been well, thank you," she answered. Shinji stood there, fidgeting for a while, wondering how to put his thoughts into words.   
  
"Umm...Rei?"  
  
"Hai," she asked, noticing the way he fidgeted.  
  
"Well, you see," he started, then paused. "I'm going out to a battle tomorrow. And so..." he paused again, fidgeting more. "This might be our last time together," he finished. Rei looked at him with silence for a minute.  
  
"No," she said simply. Shinji only looked, dumbfounded. "You will survive. You will emerge victorious."   
  
Strangely, Shinji didn't find it confusing. Well, he did find it confusing, but very motivating as well. 'Yes, I will survive, I will emerge victorious.' "Thank you Rei," he said, feeling somewhat better. He then saw a photo robot standing around. "Umm...Rei? Would you like to take a picture with me?" he asked, somewhat blushing.  
  
She looked at him for a second, slightly blushing as well, but with the same shine her eyes had earlier the day. "Hai," she said.   
  
Shinji nodded and waved the robot over. After he popped some coins, he and Rei stood side-by-side. They got a bit too close and their arms made contact with each other, after which Rei had that feeling she had back when they were stuck inside the Macross. She then wrapped Shinji's arm with both hers, which got both of them to blush, but enjoy the feeling from the skinship. The robot adjusted the lighting and position of the teens and a few seconds later, snapped the photo and spat out two copies of the photo. Shinji handed one to Rei and took the other one.  
  
"Please excuse me. Aunt Maya doesn't like it when I stay out long," Rei said.  
  
"All right. It was good seeing you again," Shinji said, slightly disappointed at seeing her go. "I'll drop by again when I get the chance."  
  
"Hai," she replied and headed back towards the restaurant. Shinji headed towards the barracks, looking forward to the battle tomorrow with some nervousness, yet with some excitement, thanks to Rei. He headed back for the barracks to try to get some shuteye at the suggestion of Fokker.  
  
THE NEXT DAY, AT 0430  
  
Shinji got up and dressed to get ready for his first mission -- "Operation Mars". The Macross was now near Mars and word has it that there was a base on Mars that was attacked and abandoned earlier in the war; it was also rumored to have some much-needed supplies for everyone onboard the Macross so the operation was started to get the supplies. His job was to escort Lieutenant Hayase Misa and a few other people to the abandoned base to try to find out what exactly happened on the day of the attack. He headed towards the Valkyrie hangars, next to the Prometheus, one of the carriers that got folded with the Macross and now a part of it.  
  
0530 HOURS, DECK OF THE PROMETHEUS  
  
Shinji waited on the deck for the Lieutenant and the others to come. He sat there, contemplating the mission, trying to figure out any potential trouble spots or gaps along the way. One thing broke him from his thoughts and it definitely wasn't Hayase's voice.  
  
"Baka!!! There you are!! Are you taking off or not???"  
  
TBC  
  
A/N -- GOD!!!! that was long!!!! oh well, there are some things I have not put in, and I did that on purpose cuz I don't want this fic to sound like SDF Macross all over again only with Eva characters. Anyways...REVIEW!!!!!   
  
speaking of review, thanks for all the positive (and negative) reviews so far. If you keep them coming, I'll keep on writing.  
  
Ja mata!  
-bug-chan 


	11. Chapter 10

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Shinji sat there with his hands on the control, not believing his ears.  
  
"A-a-a-Asuka?" he asked, most unsure of himself. The monitor in front of him lit up to show Asuka's fiery hair and her smirking appearance.   
  
"Of course, Mr. Escort" she asked as she shook her head, as if trying to accentuate her beauty. "What happened to you, just disappearing like--"  
  
"a-HEM! Staff Sergeant Ikari and Corporal Shoryu!" Misa interrupted, clearly annoyed. "We have an operation to do!"  
  
"H-hai!" both teens replied, now quite nervous. Had the situation been less serious, Misa would've been amused at the fact that both replied the same way, as if they were synchronized. Seconds later, Misa's plane and another Valkyrie lined up next to each other, ready to take off.   
  
"Ichijo Hikaru, Skull Squadron unit 23, taking off!" Hikaru announced over the radio. That was followed by Misa acknoledging her readiness to take off as both got the OK to take off and Hikaru's Valkyrie took off with Misa's right behind him.   
  
"Ikari Shinji, Skull Squadron unit 01, and Shoryu Asuka Langley, please proceed to the runway," Claudia's voice was heard over the radio.   
  
"Hai," he said as he taxied his Valkyrie to the runway, prepping himself. Asuka, or more like the pilot taking Asuka, did the same. "Ikari Shinji, Skull Squadron unit 01, taking off!" he announced as well.   
  
"Roger, you are clear, unit 01." Shinji's Valkyrie took off, with Asuka right behind him. A minute later, as he headed towards Mars, he saw more Valkyries take off from the Prometheus; some passed him and went ahead while others surrounded the Mars communication crew and their escorts. A few minutes later, the group saw a complex and landed there, changing to Battloid mode. He saw Roy's Valkyrie fly around for a while and Roy noticed Shinji below him.  
  
"Everything OK down there?" he asked the new pilot.  
  
"Hai. No problems whatsoever, sir," Shinji replied. As he kept his eyes out for any suspicious activity, he saw the Macross make a landing in the Martian surface not too far from him and let go of a lot of supply trucks and supply gatherers. They made trips to and from the base, coming to get supplies and bringing them back to the Macross. A few more Battloids laded around the supply convoy, keeping an eye and somewhat relieving Shinji; one of them, apparently bored, saw Shinji face him and gave him a thumbs-up. Shinji, amused, gave one back as well. During the whole time, there were periodic transmissions of "All clear" go back and forth.   
  
IN THE BRIDGE OF THE MACROSS  
  
"How goes the resupplying?" Gloval asked.  
  
"No problems whatsoever," Misato answered, somewhat happy that nothing was going on for once.   
  
"Good, just keep an eye out for anything that may be out of the picture," Gloval said.  
  
"Yes, sir," she said. Misato was at Misa's console, taking over her duties while she was down on the Martian base. Soon the radio came on and someone started talking.  
  
"This is Cat's Eye 1. I've found a Zentradi force advancing towards our position. ETA 10 minutes before we are in their firing range," said the pilot of the recon plane.   
  
'Aw great, there goes the whole idea of a quiet operation,' she thought to herself, very pissed. "All Valkyrie units take positions around the Macross! Prepare the Macross for liftoff and have the supply convoy return!" she ordered as sirens went on and all the crew prepared themselves for battle. Outside, supply trucks were scrambling back to the Macross and all the Valkyries took positions near the Macross.   
  
Shinji heard the orders and started to head towards the Macross when Roy's face came up again. "Skull Unit 01, stay where you are."  
  
Shinji was confused. "But there was an order to get to the Macross."  
  
"We have a couple of the crew in the base remember? Wherever there is the Macross crew, there's going to be a Macross there as well," Roy said. "Now I'm going to have a few more members of our squadron come here and help you out, you keep your eye open and not go on the offensive. They aren't done in there yet," Roy instructed.   
  
"Ah, yes sir," Shinji acknowledged, and saw a few more units headed his way. He looked around and saw the last of the supply convoy enter the safety of the Macross as he looked around for any signs of the approaching Zentradi army. 'That should be the last of the convoy...why isn't the Macross taking off?'  
  
BACK ON THE BRIDGE  
  
"The last of the convoy has made its way back and the Macross is ready to take off!" announced Vanessa from her console.  
  
"The Zentradi are now within firing range!" Kim announced. "Incoming!" There were some explosions that caught the bridge off-guard, sending a couple girls tumbling.   
  
"All right, lift off!" The Macross started going up, but came back down, hard. "What's the matter?"  
  
"Ma'am, you should come and look at this," Shammy panicked. Misato came up to her console. "There are gravitational mines underneath the Macross that are acting as magnets. We cannot take off until these mines are deactivated!"  
  
"So we walked into a trap," Gloval muttered, over the constant explosions. The rest of the bridge gave him a confused look. "The Zentradi set up mines here because they knew we had to drop by to pick up supplies," he elaborated.   
  
"Is there a way to deactivate them?" Misato asked. Gloval hesitated before answering.  
  
"Yes, but it is most risky," he answered, paused, and continued, "If we have the generators in the Martian base output more power than the Macross, the mines will be attracted to the generator. However, leaving it on overdrive for too long will cause the base, and a good chunk of area around it, to blow up."  
  
Misato thought over the idea and its consequences, then asked, "Permission to execute the plan," Inside, she too was worried, but right now, there was nothing else they could do. The other crew members looked at her with shock, but had the same thoughts as she did, so they weren't in much of a position to argue.   
  
"Permission granted," the admiral reluctantly agreed. Misato got back to the console.  
  
"Hayase, Shoryu, do you hear?" Misato called out. A second later, two "Hai"s were heard. "Whoever is closest, head towards the control room of the base and set the reactor to overdrive mode. This will free the Macross to liftoff."  
  
"Hai!" both women said.  
  
IN THE BASE  
  
Misa started to make her way towards the control room when a name on a door stuck out. "Riber," she whispered, remembering her old boyfriend and fiance. She entered the room to see it clean, much to her surprise and started to look for anything about him and his disappearance. She sat at a chair behind the desk and caught sight of a picture. It was her and Riber, a few years back, sitting happily together, before he left, before he disappeared. That did it. She burst into tears, totally forgetting Misato's order, and only remembering their last date together and his last kiss. She sat there, crying and replaying the entire scene over and over again.  
  
SOMEWHERE ELSE  
  
Asuka ran past a few rooms and found an elevator that went down. 'That must be the way to the control room,' she thought to herself and got into the elevator. As she was about to get in, an explosion rocked the place, destroying the elevator and forcing her down to the floor.  
  
"Damn these creatures!" Shinji muttered as one of their missiles struck the base. He shot it down along with a few more approaching. 'Asuka had better be OK down there.'  
  
"Damn these creatures!" Asuka muttered as she surveyed the damage in front of her. The explosion took out the elevator, but amazingly, there were wide steps where she could step on as she descended into the control room. After many minutes of going down and making sure the next step wouldn't give way, she finally reached the bottom and entered a room full of monitors, keyboards and consoles of all shapes and colors. "This is Shoryu. I have reached the control room. What now?"   
  
In the bridge, Misato looked at Gloval for instructions. "Tell her to look for a monitor that has the diagram of the base on display," he instructed. Misato relayed it over and Asuka looked around for a second before noticing it. She ran over to the console and started typing commands into it. A few seconds later, all the monitors had red hexagons with "WARNING" written in them popping up and covering the screens.   
  
"ATTENTION, ATTENTION. THE REACTOR HAS BEEN SET IN OVERLOAD. ALL BASE PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. T-MINUS TWO MINUTES BEFORE SELF-DESTRUCTION, STARTING NOW," a female voice said over the intercom.   
  
BACK IN THE BRIDGE  
  
"The gravitational mines are no longer keeping us down!" Shammy announced, very relieved.   
  
"All right! Have all the Valkyries slowly pull back towards the Macross and make sure that Shoryu and Hayase get evacuated as well," Misato ordered.   
  
AT THE BASE  
  
"Why, Riber, why?" Misa wailed. "T-MINUS ONE MINUTE AND THIRTY SECONDS BEFORE SELF-DESTRUCTION," a female voice said over the intercom. Misa heard that and calmed slightly. "At least I'll be able to see Riber again," she mumbled, smiling slightly and bent over the table.  
  
Back in the control room, Asuka climbed back up to the ground floor and ran towards the nearest exit. However, every exit she came across was blocked by the debris from the missile attack. "T-MINUS ONE MINUTE BEFORE SELF-DESTRUCTION," was heard as she frantically ran all around the base, looking for a way out.   
  
"Damnit, where's Asuka/Lieutenant?" Shinji and Hikaru respectively were starting to get worried. "Hikaru-san, any word of Lieutenant Hayase?" Shinji asked, worried.   
  
"No, I've been trying to make contact with her but there's no response whatsoever," Hikaru radioed back. They then spotted more battle pods heading their way. "Uh-oh, more battle pods," he said as both started shooting them down. One of them let off a missile meant for either fighter but instead hit the base.  
  
"Aaaah!" Asuka yelped as she jumped back to see debris falling down and blocking the corridor. She turned around to see more chunks of the building blocking the other direction, effectively trapping her.   
  
"T-MINUS THIRTY SECONDS BEFORE SELF-DESTRUCTION." Asuka just sighed. 'Well, I did it, but looks like I'm going to die,' she thought to herself, resigning to her fate. Sudddenly...  
  
*BOOM!!!!* A fist broke a big hole in the building a few feet away from Asuka. She looked at it in surprise, wondering where it came from. It then became a palm, which confused Asuka for a moment, then registered that someone came by to pick her up. She got on and it gripped around her and took off.   
  
Shinji got out of the Battloid for a moment to check on her from afar. Asuka looked up. "You know, baka, I could've done that myself," she shouted, but looked up to the head of the battloid and smiled, not a cocky, patronizing kind, but a smile of gratitude. Shinji just looked down at her and smiled himself as he got back into the cockpit and took off with Asuka safely in his grasp.  
  
Meanwhile, Hikaru went around the complex to look for the Lieutenant and saw her on a table through a window. Likewise, he smashed the wall and window separating him from her and grabbed her, much to her obvious displeasure. "Let go of me, Ichijo! Let go now!" she shouted through the communicator. Hikaru decided to ignore her orders for once and took off as she looked longingly back at the base. "RIBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed as Hikaru took off with her firmly gripped.  
  
"TEN"  
  
"NINE"  
  
"EIGHT"  
  
"SEVEN"  
  
"SIX"  
  
"FIVE"  
  
"FOUR"  
  
"THREE"  
  
"TWO"  
  
"ONE"  
  
"SELF-DESTRUCT"  
  
The base exploded as a very bright light engulfed the place. Asuka looked down back at the base without much expression, whereas Misa was looking at it with a great longing. Soon, both ladies and their escorts made it safely back to the Macross as it proceeded to continue on its path to the Earth.   
  
Both pilots landed on the deck of the Prometheus and loosened their grips on the ladies. Asuka got off and ran off but Misa just sat there on the deck, looking down on the shrinking base. Hikaru could only wonder why she, Hayase Misa, always in control, looked so depressed and vulnerable suddenly. Shinji could only wonder how come Asuka looked all the more beautiful with that smile on her face.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N -- My oh my...quite some action eh? Okay, major question -- am I going too slow with this or too fast? I'm curious. Plz answer by submitting a review. Thanks!  
  
Ja mata!  
-bug-chan 


	12. Chapter 11

A Job of a Pilot  
a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Macross/Robotech crossover  
by Bug-Chan  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Some time has passed since the Mars base battle and explosion, as the Macross made its way slowly towards Earth. During that time, it was consistently peppered by the Zentradi in an effort to stop it, but every time, despite the odds, the Macross fended them off.   
  
Hikari and Asuka finally had a leave that started and ended on the same day, giving them plenty of time to chat and hang out without the heavy and serious atmosphere confined in the bridge. Now in civilian and casual clothes, they had visited a couple malls and had some food, almost like old times.  
  
"So how was it?" Hikari asked. The two young ladies sat at a table outside a cafe of sorts, each having a generous portion of vanilla ice cream.  
  
"Hmm?" Asuka asked, spoon in mouth.  
  
"The mission. I wanted to ask you that day but during the time when you were being debriefed I totally forgot about it until now," the brown-haird girl replied, having a scoop herself.  
  
"Oh. It went fine," Asuka answered simply.  
  
"Aww, just that? Nothing more? It was quite chaotic out there, you know," Hikari pressed. Asuka's simple answer only increased her curiosity and made her speculate that it had something to do with a boy...or more specifically...Shinji.  
  
"Well, it went fine until the base got hit and the Macross couldn't lift off. Then it became crazy," the redhead said. For some reason, it seemed like she was evading the question to a degree.  
  
Hikari noticed that she wasn't exactly giving details. She put on her trademark Class Rep face and voice and looked at her. "Shoryu, if you keep on beating around the bush like that, I will publicly announce your crush on Shinji!" she threatened. 'Well, maybe not, but this girl is not giving away ANYTHING," she soemwhat corrected herself.  
  
At this, Asuka's head snapped and she looked at Hikari with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "You wouldn't?!"  
  
Hikari only glared at her. "Oh yes I would."  
  
Asuka looked in horror at her best friend, and realized from her serious eyes and face that this was no joking matter. She sighed, then became suddenly interested on her ice cream. "Okay, I'll spill. After I found out that I had to put the reactor in overdrive so the gravity mines could be attracted to something else other than the Macross, I was trying to get out in time. Then the buildings around me collapsed and I was stuck." she stopped, now focusing totally on the slowing shrinking and melting ice cream.  
  
"And then?" Hikari asked, or rather, pressed.  
  
"Then..." the redhead hesitated, "then Shinji burst through a wall and rescued me," she blurted out quickly. "There, I said it. So stop bugging me." By then her face was flushed and she couldn't look up.  
  
Hikari noticed Asuka's change in attitude, then noticed her now-flushed face. 'No wonder...this girl's crush may be more than just one.' She then dropped her Class Rep mode. "See? That wasn't too hard," she said. "And by the way, I was bluffing."  
  
Asuka looked back at her friend, to see her trying not to laugh. It worked...for about half a minute, before she started giggling. "Asuka! Your face! So priceless! So it is true!" Hikari said between fits of giggles. Asuka's face reddened, both from embarrasement and from anger, and it took all her willpower not to lunge at her. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Trust me," Hikari reassured her once her giggling fit ended. The redhead calmed, but not fully.   
  
"Oh, I overheard some interesting news today from the top brass," Hikari whispered as she drew close to her friend, as in telling her the world's deadliest secret.  
  
"Oh?" Asuka asked, confused and curious.  
  
"Yeah. Touji and Kensuke are now full-time pilots."  
  
"How in the world did they manage that?" Asuka asked with mockery. Hikari pouted for a second before continuing.  
  
"Shinji's being promoted as well." This caught Asuka's attention.  
  
"Shinji? Promotion?"  
  
"Uh-huh." The redhead was left speechless as she ate the remainding ice cream. Her friend looked at her watch. "Crud, it's almost time to report for my shift," she mumbled, not really willing to separate from Asuka.   
  
"Oh yeah? Let's go then," Asuka said as she ate the last couple scoops. They paid for the ice cream and headed back, one to report for duty and the other to see her off. A few minutes later, they were in front of the base. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow on duty again?"  
  
"Sadly, yes. Oh well, at least today was really fun," Hikari tried to cheer up.   
  
"Then, take care. See you tomrrow," Asuka said. The two girls hugged momentarily and went their separate ways.  
  
MEANWHILE...  
  
Shinji sat in his room in the barracks, contemplating his first real battle on Mars. The flight down, the guard duty, the gunfight, and finally, the image of a smiling Asuka. And of all images that flashed through his head, the one of Asuka smiling at him would stay and linger the longest, making him feel somewhat peaceful. Then, an announcement on the PA system derailed his train of thoughts.  
  
"Would the following people please report to the UN Spacy HQ? Justin Borgnine, Max Jenius,..."  
  
'Oh well, looks like it won't concern me then,' he idly thought and was about to go back to more contemplation when...  
  
"Seargant Ikari Shinji."  
  
"Eh?" he asked, very surprised at his name being called. Shinji wasn't used to having some higher authority call his name out in the PA system, even back in school. He stayed out of trouble, but wasn't the most excellent student either -- in other words, the Average Joe. Not wanting to get in trouble, he got up and headed for HQ.   
  
He arrived at HQ, announced his presence and entered. He saw the aforementioned people standing in a line and got into line himself, right next to Hikaru. Both silently nodded their greetings and turned to face the top brass of UN Spacy, standing in front of them, next to a table that held a bunch of small boxes. Then, one person stepped front and started.  
  
"All of you distinguished yourselves in our previous battle at Mars. In recongnition of your valor, we award you the UN Forces Titanium medal." Shinji became wide-eyed and slightly looked to the left and right and found Roy sitting at a side table. The timid boy saw him and pointed his finger at him in confusion. Roy smiled slightly and nodded. An "Ahem!" snapped his head back facing front while a female officer to his left with a clipboard said "Please step forward as I call your names. Justin Borgnine..." As each name was called, the respective man approached the front, had a medal pinned on his chest, saluted and left the room. Shinji's turn came up and he did the same. Five minutes later, he walked out, quite happy of himself. As he made a turn, a familiar head popped out of one of the rooms. "Yo, Ikari!"  
  
"Oh! Fokker-san!" Shinji said, recognizing the face.  
  
"Come in here for a minute, I got some business to discuss with you," he instructed the younger man. Shinji complied and entered. Roy walked to a sofa in the room and motioned Shinji to sit down, which he did as well. The older man then picked up a box like the one Shinji had gotten with the medal and tossed it to him. "Take that medal off and put the one in the box. It's your new lieutenant insignia." Shinji's eyes went wide.  
  
"E...excuse me...lieutenant insignia?" he asked, quite shocked. Shinji never pictured himself as a leader, more as a follower so this came as a great surprise. He didn't know whether to think of it as a good thing or a bad thing.  
  
"That would be correct, Lieutenant Ikari. And," Roy answered as he brought over a screen, "here's your new members of your Vermillion Squad." If it were possible, Shinji's eyes would've become even bigger.  
  
"Leader? Members? Squad?" Shinji just asked random words that popped up in his head. Roy looked at the young man with amusement and turned on the screen. It came to life with a picture of someone quite familiar.  
  
"Suzuhara Touji. Rank: Corporal. Simulator time: 378 hours. Flight time: 66 hours. Skill ranking: A-" a mechanized voice listed the said pilot's statistics.   
  
"Wait a min--" shinji started but got cut off by the screen changing pictures to someone else he knew.  
  
"Aida Kensuke. Rank: Corporal. Simulator time: 320 hours. Flight time: 50 hours. Skill ranking: A" the voice listed again. The screen then turned off.  
  
"What? I am supposed to lead them?" Shinji asked, more confused than ever.  
  
"Yup," Fokker answered simply, then noticed Shinji's face. It seemed to silently ask 'Why?'. "You did show an exceptional ability to make good decisions under enormous pressure in our last battle. That is what makes a good leader."  
  
"But I'm not any better than they are. Kensuke should be the one to be the leader. He has more experience in this than I do," Shinji vainly tried to back off, but Fokker would hear nothing of it.   
  
"Bah! Stop being modest! I wrote a manual for you, stuff that a team leader should know," the older man waved him off. Before Shinji could start, there was a knock on the door. "Oh, they're here. Come in!"  
  
The door opened, and, much to Shinji's disbelief, further confusion, shock and plain surprise, in stepped Kensuke and Touji in full uniform.  
  
"Kensuke??? Touji???" Shinji almost exclaimed.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N -- First off, my apologies for not updating soon enough. I got carried away by other things, one of them being a Love Hina fanfic. I will now try to balance the amount of time I spend on all fics.   
  
Aah...finally reached the point I wanted to reach: enter the other two stooges. So, if you've been wondering why I used Shinji as a good pilot, you know now.   
  
Remember, get those reviews churning. If I get a lot of reviews, it'll provide more motivation to write. I will write even if I only get one or two, but I won't be as motivated (look at my Love Hina fic "Love Hina manlier side").   
  
Anyways, REVIEW!   
  
and have a nice day.  
  
-bug 


End file.
